Design and Implementation of a GPS-Based Navigation System for Micro Air Vehicles

S. Kanowitz, M. C. Nechyba and A. A. Arroyo
Abstract
Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) are becoming vastly popular in the areas of surveillance and reconnisance for military and civilian use, however, their instability due to their small size renders them useful to only a handful of pilots. We propose implementing a GPS-based navigation system for use in autonomous flight of micro air vehicles. Previous efforts in this area have produced a vision-based horizon tracking algorithm capable of sustained level flight with user input. Our goal is to improve on this flight system using information from a GPS receiver. In this paper we first introduce MAVs and the current vision-based navigation system. We next discuss the integration of the GPS navigation system by describing the design of the hardware system and software algorithms for navigation and control. The GPS and vision-based navigation system has been successfully built and integrated, and are currently in the test phase of development.
S. Kanowitz, M. C. Nechyba and A. A. Arroyo, "Design and Implementation of a GPS-Based Navigation System for Micro Air Vehicles," 2002 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, Miami, May 2002 (84 kb).