Very Low Cost Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) Avionics

"Under this proposed SBIR effort, NAVSYS will develop a miniature, low-cost avionics system suitable for employment in a small, disposable UAV. Leveraging our expertise in GPS/INS integration, this system will enable robust navigation even in a GPS-degradedenvironment by employing tight coupling of the GPS receiver with the onboard navigation sensors, allowing a low-cost inertial sensor package to be used and still meeting the navigation requirements. We will first perform an analysis to determine theachievable performance of the system with different grades of onboard instrumentation and under varying degrees of GPS degradation. Then, in cooperation with the US Air Force Academy (AFA) under a CRADA (See Attachment 1 in Section M), we will develop anddemonstrate a breadboard avionics system using COTS components that closely approaches the stringent power and size requirements of the production concept. As an option, we will be able to demonstrate the operation and real-world performance of theminiature avionics system in-flight on an AFA-supplied kit airframe.In a Phase II activity, we will create a tightly-integrated, miniaturized system that will further reduce size and weight while meeting the aggressive cost target needed for a production UAV system. The low cost low cost UAV avionics package will provide a cost effective avionics alternative for military UAV applications. As the military moves towards cheaper, `disposable' UAVs