KACST FUNDED STRATEGIC PROJECTS

Modeling and Flight Control System Design for Autonomous UAV

This project aims at developing an autonomous aircraft capable of performing regular operational tasks starting from takeoff, navigation through a pre-determined path and finally landing autonomously. The algorithms, software for mission control, guidance and control will be developed in this project. Also, the software and hardware for GPS/IMU and autopilot units will be developed. Moreover the Ground Control Station will be developed.

Laser gated imaging allows for imaging at long distances while reducing the effect of obscurants in the atmosphere. It improves the signal to backscattering noise ratio (SBR) for a camera signal and produce quality images in noisy environment. It is a powerful technique for night vision that has advantages over thermal imagers. Some of these are the ability to see through class and a better performance in rain, fog and snow. In laser-gated imaging, a very short laser pulse is used to illuminate the scene while the reflected light is detected by a camera with a short exposure or gating time. The exposure is delayed so imaging occurs at a particular distance, thus the image is only from the reflection of objects at that distance. In this project, we will build a laboratory prototype that can be later developed into a real product.

The aim of the project is to develop an indigenous solution for air-to-ground tracking of important ground targets using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in urban environment. The ground targets in this particular case are vehicles and persons. This project is an extension of an on-going project on the indigenous development of an autonomous UAV capable of performing regular operations like takeoff, navigation and landing. The autonomous UAVs with vision capabilities are helpful in scenarios such as intelligent monitoring of borders for possible infiltration, surveillance of oil and gas installations and pipelines, and traffic control, etc. In the particular case of target tracking, many possible targets may be detected and tracked by UAVs reducing human intervention and the overall cost of surveillance while maintaining the quality of human judgment.