Navigation, Guidance and Control For the CICADA Expendable Micro Air Vehicle

Abstract

The CICADA (Close-in Covert Autonomous Disposable Aircraft) is a new and novel micro air vehicle design based on a monolithic circuit-board/structure. The CICADA is a glider which once dropped from a host vehicle will automatically fly to a preprogrammed recovery waypoint. A key design goal for the guidance and control system was to enable the CICADA to recover from a wide range of initial launch conditions and altitudes. Recording temperature and wind profile data during the decent was also a design objective. This paper will describe the navigation, guidance, flight control, and environmental control developed for this simple yet capable aircraft. Flight test data will be presented showing the performance of the CICADA vehicle from a drop of over 29,000 feet in altitude.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2015
Accession Number
ADA623280

Entities

People

  • Aaron D. Kahn
  • Daniel J. Edwards

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Sensors
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Altitude
  • Circuit Boards
  • Control Surfaces
  • Control Systems
  • Equations
  • Flight Control Systems
  • Flight Paths
  • Ground Speed
  • Guidance
  • High Altitude
  • Kalman Filters
  • Measurement
  • Micro Air Vehicles
  • Navigation
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Aviation Science / Aeronautics.
  • Circadian Sleep-Wake Regulation and Chronobiology
  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy