GPS Auto-Navigation Design for Unmanned Air Vehicles

Summary of Results The design of a GPS auto-navigation system for unmanned air vehicles has been completed, The navigation system is composed of an avionics system, an autopilot unit consisting of five controllers for attitude control, and a navigator that is programmed to fly through a pre-determined waypoint pattern. Stingray UAV is equipped with the avionics system and instruments for in-flight measurements and data acquisition. The avionics system is based on the on-board computer system named Linux In Flight Testing (LIFT) system that was developed at NC State. This system is capable of hard real-time control system implementation, data processing and in- flight data storage. The efficiency and capability of the avionics system was demonstrated in flight. The navigator is designed to guide the aircraft through a predetermined waypoints pattern. These waypoints consist of a latitude, longitude, and altitude position and are listed in an input file that is downloaded to LIFT system prior to flight. The navigator performs the following steps. First, the navigator reads the GPS information velocity, and altitude of the aircraft and compares it to the desired waypoint. The navigator then determines whether a heading correction is necessary and then computes the desired heading correction in terms of