UAVAT Framework: UAV Auto Test Framework for Experimental Validation of Multirotor sUAS Using a Motion Capture System

The development of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) continuously improves and advances the technology, which is a key enabler for many new applications, such as autonomous Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations. However, ensuring a sufficient level of safety and performance of an UAS can be a challenging task, since it requires systematic experimental validation in order verify and document the reliability, robustness, and fault tolerance of the UAS and its critical components. In this paper we propose the UAV Auto Test Framework (UAVAT Framework), a framework for easy, systematic, and efficient experimental validation of the reliability, fault tolerance, and robustness of a multirotor small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) and its software and hardware components. We describe the hardware and software used for the UAVAT Framework setup, which consists of a Motion Capture (MoCap) system, a multirotor sUAS, and a tethered power system. In addition, we introduce the concept of test modules, a “plug-and-play” software component with a set of recommended guidelines for defining testing configurations and enabling easy reuse and distribution of software components for sUAS testing. The capabilities of the UAVAT Framework are demonstrated by presenting the results from two developed test modules targeting endurance testing of a multirotor sUAS and Fault Detection (FD) for abnormal behaviour detection.