Colin Theodore - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Colin Theodore

AIAA 3rd "Unmanned Unlimited" Technical Conference, Workshop and Exhibit, 2004

Autonomous UAV science missions hold great promise for improving the productivity of airborne sci... more Autonomous UAV science missions hold great promise for improving the productivity of airborne science research and applications. Potential UAV science missions have been reviewed and common autonomy needs have been identified. Preliminary efforts to craft an Intelligent Mission Management architecture for observational autonomy are evolving. Three science missions, along with the architecture, the technology needs and operational requirements for autonomy are highlighted. 2 satellites. UAVs are able to collect science data that is hard to gather using other available platforms. These include high altitude atmospheric composition measurements and earth surface events in inaccessible places over extended periods of time. UAVs are capable of providing unique data gathering opportunities as a result of their operational characteristics. However, UAVs currently require monitoring by ground-based operators, which adds expense. Further, they are limited in their operational scope by delays and blackouts in communication. When the aircraft and its payload are provided with autonomous functionality, even greater science and application productivity is promised. These platforms are destined to become part of NASA's Sensorweb -a networked set of instruments in which information from one sensor is automatically used to redirect or reconfigure other components of the web. A new project within NASA is seeking to understand and develop autonomous capability for the entire UAV system, including the aircraft, the payload, the communications system and the ground station. Preliminary efforts to craft an autonomous "Intelligent Mission Management" architecture were begun in early 2004. Concepts of Operation and Functional Design Requirements for atmospheric sensing and wildfire monitoring missions have been developed as a first class of missions to drive the development of technologies that will enable highly autonomous operation. A UAV becomes more autonomous as more and more decision-making functionality is transferred from the human operator to the UAV system. Taking advantage of the unique capabilities of UAVs requires autonomy functionality in both the aircraft and in the payload. For example, even though the aircraft may nominally be flown from a ground station by a pilot, it could be programmed to follow pre-determined waypoints. The payload instruments must also operate without hands-on control, either through remote control or built-in functionality. Introducing autonomy also requires special risk-mitigation strategies. To ensure safety, the aircraft must be programmed to follow some course of action if communication is lost with the pilot on the ground. Beyond these minimal requirements, autonomous operations can improve the productivity of a mission, for example by allowing dynamic replanning of the flight path.

AIAA 3rd "Unmanned Unlimited" Technical Conference, Workshop and Exhibit, 2004

Autonomous UAV science missions hold great promise for improving the productivity of airborne sci... more Autonomous UAV science missions hold great promise for improving the productivity of airborne science research and applications. Potential UAV science missions have been reviewed and common autonomy needs have been identified. Preliminary efforts to craft an Intelligent Mission Management architecture for observational autonomy are evolving. Three science missions, along with the architecture, the technology needs and operational requirements for autonomy are highlighted. 2 satellites. UAVs are able to collect science data that is hard to gather using other available platforms. These include high altitude atmospheric composition measurements and earth surface events in inaccessible places over extended periods of time. UAVs are capable of providing unique data gathering opportunities as a result of their operational characteristics. However, UAVs currently require monitoring by ground-based operators, which adds expense. Further, they are limited in their operational scope by delays and blackouts in communication. When the aircraft and its payload are provided with autonomous functionality, even greater science and application productivity is promised. These platforms are destined to become part of NASA's Sensorweb -a networked set of instruments in which information from one sensor is automatically used to redirect or reconfigure other components of the web. A new project within NASA is seeking to understand and develop autonomous capability for the entire UAV system, including the aircraft, the payload, the communications system and the ground station. Preliminary efforts to craft an autonomous "Intelligent Mission Management" architecture were begun in early 2004. Concepts of Operation and Functional Design Requirements for atmospheric sensing and wildfire monitoring missions have been developed as a first class of missions to drive the development of technologies that will enable highly autonomous operation. A UAV becomes more autonomous as more and more decision-making functionality is transferred from the human operator to the UAV system. Taking advantage of the unique capabilities of UAVs requires autonomy functionality in both the aircraft and in the payload. For example, even though the aircraft may nominally be flown from a ground station by a pilot, it could be programmed to follow pre-determined waypoints. The payload instruments must also operate without hands-on control, either through remote control or built-in functionality. Introducing autonomy also requires special risk-mitigation strategies. To ensure safety, the aircraft must be programmed to follow some course of action if communication is lost with the pilot on the ground. Beyond these minimal requirements, autonomous operations can improve the productivity of a mission, for example by allowing dynamic replanning of the flight path.