Design, control, and automation of UAV airships for disaster monitoring

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The effective coordination of a rescue operation or relief effort depends on the ability to obtain local, up-to-date, and accurate information of the situation on the ground. Navigating disaster areas can sometimes prove impractical if not impossible, as was the case following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami or hurricane Katrina. With limited manned search and rescue assets, first responders are increasingly eyeing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as cost-effective alternatives or complements to manned operations. In May 2013, the first ever account of a civilian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) saving a person's life was reported following a car accident in rural Saskatchewan. Given the inherent advantages of UAVs, the objective of the proposed research program is to develop airship UAV systems to provide long-term disaster monitoring support to ground-based campaigns. The program will investigate airship development, power management systems, guidance, navigation and control strategies, deployment capabilities, and georeferencing methods. Fluctuating environmental conditions prevent low-altitude vehicles from reliably depending on regenerative solar systems as a primary source of electrical power. To address this problem, the applicant's research team has developed a series hybrid propulsion system that could extend the flight time and range of low-altitude unmanned airships by over 600% when compared to purely electric systems. Using this technology, a six meter airship would be able to operate for three days before refuelling. This high level of endurance is expected to significantly increase the viability of airship UAVs for surveillance and surveyance missions. The projects outlined in the proposed research program involve both fundamental and experimental research towards the long-term vision of using fleets of airship UAVs for monitoring environmental conditions and relief efforts following natural or man-made disasters, and other applications such as environmental research, natural resource protection, policing, border patrol, and traffic monitoring. This program will address challenges of operating UAVs in Canada and will provide a multidisciplinary research training environment for aspiring future leaders in unmanned aircraft systems.