An Autonomous Unmanned Science Mission

摘要

In the summer and fall of 2017, researchers in the Autonomy Incubator (AI) at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) developed and flew an autonomous science mission on-site under a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Certificate of Authorization (COA) to demonstrate the feasibility of an earth science data collection on a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (sUAV). This exemplar mission delivered an ozone sensor to a target location specified by the earth scientist for in-situ data collection en route and at the target location. Given only the target location, the autonomous UAV planned its route, updated its trajectory as needed per onboard object detection and avoidance, delivered the ozone sensor, and then returned to recover it by executing a precision landing within a few inches of the sensor for pickup. This mission was flown in a data-rich environment as well as in a data-deprived (no GPS) environment We present the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) designed and flown to accomplish this mission along with science data results. This system includes the vehicle, payload, ground support equipment (GSE), and science data analysis. Future missions building on the success of the AI Exemplar Science Mission are in progress and will also be presented.