Hardesty Development of Navigation and Automated Flight Control System Solutions for Maritime VTOL UAS Operations
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Since first flight on September 8 th , 2004, The Boeing Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) program has served as a company owned low cost rapid prototyping platform to examine all aspects of vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial system operations. Designed with an optionally manned capability, the program has conducted most developmental flight test activity in civil airspace just north of the Boeing Facility in Mesa, Arizona. In 2005 and 2006, fully autonomous integration and firing of a prototype 50 cal machine gun, 2.75” rockets, and Hellfire missiles, as well as flight without a safety pilot on board were demonstrated at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground. Autonomous resupply concepts of operations, with both slung load and cargo pods have been flight tested, along with casualty evacuation. For several years now the ULB program has been examining various methods for precisely navigating to a moving vessel for vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial system launch and recovery operations. This paper describes a recent company sponsored flight test effort to integrate and demonstrate a novel and highly precise navigation system for use in a maritime environment. Included are modifications to the test helicopter, flight crew and engineering test crew training and qualification, and operational theory and an evaluation of the precision navigation solution. The result is a method to guide the Boeing H-6U vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial system to a predetermined precision landing anywhere on a ship deck, regardless of deck dimensions.