The Neutral Particle Detector (NPD) is a new type of instrumentation for energetic neutral atom (ENA) diagnostics. This thesis deals with development of the NPD sensor designed as a part of the plasma and neutral particle packages ASPERA-3 and ASPERA-4 on board Mars Express and Venus Express, the European Space Agency (ESA) satellites to Mars [...]
DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE MAGNETOSTRICTIVE ENERGY HARVESTING DEVICE
To enhance performance and safety, structures of all types are made “smart” with the addition of sensors. These sensors require power, but in some cases conventional power supply methods are inadequate. Ideally, these sensors would convert the available ambient energy into electrical energy… Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Objective 1.2 Review of Energy Harvesting Principles 1.2.1 [...]
Sampling-based Path Planning for an Autonomous Helicopter
Many of the applications that have been proposed for future small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are at low altitude in areas with many obstacles. A vital component for successful navigation in such environments is a path planner that can find collision free paths for the UAV. Two popular path planning algorithms are the probabilistic roadmap [...]
Aircraft Parametric 3D Modelling and Panel Code of Analysis for Conceptual Design
Aircraft design is a compromise between many competing factors and constrains. These constrains are mainly economical and technical, both having a great influence on how a design is carried out. The technological depends on the economical, therefore it is necessary to find new methods that will allow engineers to lower the time that takes to [...]
Laser feedback control for robotics in aircraft assembly
This thesis presents a method for increasing the accuracy of an industrial robot by integrating a high accuracy measurement system in a feedback control loop. The performance of the system is evaluated on reconfiguring of ART modules and robotic drilling. Today robots are used for automation of high volume production, e.g. car industry. To achieve [...]
Metabolic Workload Measurement System for Space Suits
Title: Development and Testing of a Metabolic Workload Measurement System for Space Suits Real time knowledge of the metabolic workload of an astronaut during an Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) can be instrumental for space suit research, design, and operation. Three indirect calorimetry approaches were developed to determine the metabolic workload of a subject in an open-loop [...]
Shock-Based Waverider Design
Title: Shock-Based Waverider Design with Pressure Gradient Corrections and Computational Simulations Waveriders demonstrate good aerodynamic performance and thus are of special interest for hypersonic applications, especially for engine-airframe integration. The osculating cones waverider method is a generic shock-based derived waverider design method that allows prescribing a wide variety… Download This Report (PDF) Reference URL 1: [...]
SPAN MORPHING WING
This thesis (“ROLL CONTROL FOR UAVs BY USE OF A VARIABLE SPAN MORPHING WING“) presents variable span wing morphing (VSWM) as an effector of roll control for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In this study, the roll coefficients obtained from VSWM are quantified by theoretical and experimental data and compared with typical aileron roll coefficients. We [...]
Bimodal Nuclear Thermal Rockets
Title: Integrated Propulsion and Power Modeling for Bimodal Nuclear Thermal Rockets Bimodal nuclear thermal rocket (BNTR) engines have been shown to reduce the weight of space vehicles to the Moon, Mars, and beyond by utilizing a common reactor for propulsion and power generation. These savings lead to reduced launch vehicle costs and/or increased mission safety [...]
Treatment of Time Delay During Teleoperation
Title: Strategies and Human Interface Techniques for the Treatment of Time Delay During Teleoperation Teleoperation of remotely located space/underwater vehicles requires the human operator to interact with time delayed vehicle responses to issued commands. This often results in the adoption of a “move and wait” strategy whereby the vehicle operator waits to view the results [...]