Date of Award

Spring 5-2017

Access Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Department

Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Hever Moncayo

First Committee Member

Richard Prazenica

Second Committee Member

Daewon Kim

Abstract

The development, deployment, and operation of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have grown exponentially in recent years and have provided researchers with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with aircraft in a manner that was previously limited to institutions and companies with large budgets. This allows the generation and testing of UAS advanced technologies using low cost systems. The scope of this thesis does not aim to make vast improvements to the control strategy itself, but to expand upon previous UAV work carried out at Embry-Riddle by designing, implementing, and demonstrating a simulation environment for mechanical and Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) actuated ailerons in a Skywalker 1880 UAV using model reference adaptive control law. This work will contribute to a baseline model for the research and development of future UAV with morphing control surfaces up to a flight test stage. Meanwhile the extensive use of low-cost hardware and open source software allows the opportunity to explore the feasibility of using affordable open-source technology in an academic context. Future students who are interested in morphing designs for UAV may find the baseline system presented here to be a useful starting point from which to begin their own research.

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