FURTHERANCE OF MODULAR PAYLOAD USE CASE FOR EVTOL PLATFORM THROUGH ELECTROMAGNETIC ADHERENCE AND COMPUTER VISION

In our Phase I effort, we worked with the University of Texas at Austin to research an important computer vision question, 'How can an autonomous system correctly identify a unique marker from above?' While itself a non-trivial question, the answer begins to the open the door to an important, larger set of technical questions. How can we then integrate that computer vision system into a larger airframe? How can we have that airframe fly in a stable and precise enough manner to successfully crane in and out cargo? How can that system integrate both crane and camera systems into an algorithm that could, one day, allow for fully autonomous cargo drop and retrieval?   Answering those questions is the goal of our Phase II.  The Phase I had scope enough for the computer vision question. We seek to use the Phase II award to further flesh out this vital research and development effort into a prototype with critical software and hardware integrated into our triply-redundant flight computer.  It is our goal to take the fruits of this technical effort and create an operational aircraft that the DoD could use to fulfill the 'Logistics Under Attack' Concept of Employment. We will discuss this more in the anticipated application and benefits section below. The technical goal here is to research, develop, and employ an autonomous computer vision and crane system into our unique electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft platform, HEXA.  We are honored to continue working with the University of Texas at Austin (whose aerospace engineering program currently ranks 7th in the United States) on this important initiative.