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Project: Remote Piloted Semi-Autonomous Aerial Surveillance System Using Terrestrial Wireless Networks

Acronym: SAAS
Main Objective:
The main objective of SAAS is to develop an UAV remote control system that is mostly independent of a specific vehicle model or design and that makes use of the available terrestrial wireless networks. The individual challenges and objectives to be addressed are:
• Real-Time Video Transmission and Control using Terrestrial Wireless Networks: Investigate the possibility of transmitting real time video and control commands with adequate quality for a pilot to control and make decisions on the vehicle course using the available radio networks (GSM, UMTS, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, LTE).
• Semi-autonomous Flight Control: Develop autonomous control capabilities for the aircraft to perform its self-rescue in the case of loss of radio connection and that can also allow a reduced piloting workload.
• Remote Visualization and Control Application: Implement an application for tablet PCs that enables the visualization of the video captured by the aircraft cameras together with other telemetry information and allows the pilot to command the aircraft (either using the touchscreen, the accelerometers or an additional attached joystick).
• Prototype Implementation and Flight Tests: Implement a prototype using a small rotary-wing aircraft (possibly a tricopter/quadcopter) and evaluate the performance in terms of video reception, control, and autonomy capability.
Reference: -
Funding: IT/LA
Start Date: 01-03-2012
End Date: 01-04-2014
Team: Nuno Manuel Branco Souto, Americo Manuel Carapeto Correia, Fernando Jose da Silva Velez, Rui Miguel Neto Marinheiro, José Eduardo Charters Ribeiro da Cunha Sanguino, Pedro Joaquim Amaro Sebastião, António José Castelo Branco Rodrigues, João Carlos Marques Silva, Francisco Antonio Bucho Cercas, Sancho Moura Oliveira, Anders Lyhne Christensen, Paulo Jorge Lourenço Nunes, Marco Alexandre Ribeiro, José André Rocha Sá e Moura
Groups: Radio Systems – Lx, Information Technology - Lx, Multimedia Signal Processing – Lx
Partners:
Local Coordinator: Nuno Manuel Branco Souto
Links: Internal Page

Associated Publications