Adaptive wind estimation for small unmanned aerial systems using motion data

About this technology

Overview

Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) are becoming increasingly popular for research, commercial, and military usage due to their affordability resulting from their small size, low cost and simple hardware structure. Their lightweight structure and limited power make the sUAS vulnerable to wind disturbances, and hence difficult for accurate navigation and control outdoors, especially in urban environment where the wind field is more complex and has more uncertainties. NASA Ames has developed a unique and novel technology that provides fast and reliable estimation of the wind and related aerodynamic drag components for the sUAS without requiring expensive measurement components and computational power. The technology is a method to provide safe navigation and control capabilities for the multi-rotor drones in an urban wind field. It provides the critical aspects of the uses of sUAS, which is reliability while maintaining simplicity in design.