An Exercise in Developing Autonomous Flight Control Software System

DOI: 10.5176/2251-2195_CSEIT17.67

Authors: Connor R. Bower, Eva A. Steger, Emanuel S. Grant

Abstract: The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in situations where physical access to terrain is limited or hazardous has borne great success. A new and growing domain for applying this technology is in situations where remote control is not applicable, i.e. communication link between the unmanned vehicle and a control base is not possible. Such unmanned vehicles then need to operate autonomously; making flight operation and payload task completion independent of external stimuli. The work documented in this report outlines an undergraduate course project in developing the unmanned aerial vehicle, and specifically the software system to facilitate the autonomous operation of the vehicle.

Keywords: Autonomous flight, software engineering, unmanned aerial vehicle, navigation.