Useful Links for UAVs

Following are the useful links for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle developers including Autopilot systems, UAVs and related products

http://www.iknowsystems.com

http://www.est-kl.com/aufbau_genera...dnavigator.html

http://www.u-nav.com/

http://www.rotomotion.com/prd_REV2.4.6DOFK.html

http://www.xbow.com/Products/produc...ils.aspx?sid=27

http://www.uavflight.com/UAV_AP50_DataSheet.htm

http://www.sovereign-publications.com/wecontrol.htm

http://www.micropilot.com/

http://www.uavworld.com/

http://www.yb2normal.com/uavtwinstar1.html

http://www.adroit.com/board/?topic=topic5

http://www.microboticsinc.com/midg.html#TOP

http://autopilot.sourceforge.net/

http://www.silvertone.com.au/ezi-nav.htm

http://www.aeromech.usyd.edu.au/cgi...d/ikonboard.cgi

http://hydropower.inel.gov/turbines/pdfs/pnnl-deng.pdf

http://www.isthq.com/main.asp?a=2&b...=88&view=active

http://www.analog.com/en/content/0,...55F8078,00.html

http://www.microstrain.com/news/article-09.aspx

http://www.analog.com/en/content/0,...55F7585,00.html

http://ausim3d.com/products/AuWeb_eC_sensors.html

http://www.5dt.com/products/pfob.html

http://graphics.usc.edu/~suyay/muri/muri-result.html

http://www.procerusuav.com/

http://www.motionnet.com/cgi-bin/se...e?a=sc&no=11060

http://www.inition.co.uk/inition/pr...on_reactor2.php

http://rcpilot.sourceforge.net/modules/rcap/index.php

http://www.auav.net/

http://rotomotion.com/index.html

http://www.micropilot.com/

http://www.u-nav.com/

http://www.hanfordsite.com/

http://www.uavflight.com/

http://www.u-nav.com/3300.html

http://www.uavforum.com/

http://www.u-blox.com/products/sam_ls.html

http://hem.passagen.se/skj/engelska/rcel.htm

http://cs1.cs.nyu.edu/%7Ebacon/birc.../tom/RAPTR.html

http://www.uavs.net/

http://www.scalerobotics.com/store/catalog

http://www.albatross-uav.org

http://www.maxstream.net/products/x...dule-zigbee.php

http://www.maxstream.net/products/x...m-rf-module.php

http://www.bluewatersys.com/snapper/

http://www.gumstix.com/

http://www.nongnu.org/paparazzi/

http://www.araa.asn.au/acra/acra2004/papers/pounds.pdf

http://www.atairaerospace.com

http://www.uav-autopilots.de

http://www.elkhart.net/~miked/Ulinks.htm

http://tom.pycke.be/

http://www.rcatsystems.com

http://projects.itek.norut.no/UAV/


Competition teams

http://www.ncsu.edu/stud_orgs/ar

http://aeweb.tamu.edu/aeroel/buzzard/airplane.html

http://www.cuuav.org/

http://www3.uta.edu/faculty/reyes/AVL/Default.htm

http://clubs.engr.arizona.edu/arc/0405site/index.htm

http://controls.ae.gatech.edu/gtar/

http://www.flyingrobots.com/

http://www.rose-hulman.edu/Users/gr...RC/Public/HTML/

http://a-robotics.spsu.edu/

http://www.ece.uwaterloo.ca/%7Ewarg/index.html

http://www.devry.ca/clubs/iarc/enter.htm


Competitions

http://www.bowheadsupport.com/paxwe...ers/default.htm

http://avdil.gtri.gatech.edu/AUVS/IARCLaunchPoint.html

All these will be categorized later on.

Have nice time with UAVs!!

Joint strike figter competition

The Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program was created in 1993, implementing one of the recommendations of a United States Department of Defense (DoD) "Bottom-Up Review." (The review also led the Pentagon to continue the F-22 and F/A-18E/F programs, cancel the Multi-Role Fighter (MRF) and the A/F-X programs, and curtail F-16 and F/A-18C/D procurement.)

Two contracts to develop prototypes were awarded on 16 November 1996; one each to Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Each firm would produce two aircraft to demonstrate conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), carrier takeoff and landing (CV version), and short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL).

The contract for System Development and Demonstration (SDD) was awarded on 26 October 2001, to Lockheed Martin, whose X-35 beat the Boeing X-32. DoD officials and the UK Minister of Defence Procurement said the X-35 consistently outperformed the X-32, although both met or exceeded requirements.

On February 19, 2006, the first F-35 (USAF version) was rolled out in Fort Worth, Texas. The aircraft will undergo extensive ground testing and then flight tests in the fall.

Sources:
F-35 Lightning II
LOCKHEED MARTIN TEAM WINS JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER COMPETITION, PLEDGES FULL COMMITMENT TO THIS CORNERSTONE OF FUTURE DEFENSE CAPABILITY

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: SDD Contracts & Events FY 2006

Advanced Tactical Fighter competition

The Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) contract was a demonstration and validation program undertaken by the United States Air Force to develop a next-generation air superiority fighter to counter emerging worldwide threats, including development and proliferation of Soviet-era Sukhoi Su-27 class fighter aircraft.

In 1981, the USAF developed a requirement for a new air superiority fighter intended to replace the capability of the F-15 Eagle. It was envisaged that the ATF would incorporate emerging technologies including advanced alloys and composite material, advanced fly-by-wire flight control systems, higher power propulsion systems, and low-observable, or stealth technology.

An RFP was issued in July 1986, and two contractor teams, Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics and Northrop/McDonnell-Douglas were selected in October 1986 to undertake a 50 month demonstration/validation phase, culminating in the flight test of two prototypes, the YF-22 and the YF-23.

Following a hard-fought fly-off competition, in August 1991 the YF-22 was declared the winner and Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to develop and build the Advanced Tactical Fighter.

The production version of the aircraft, the F-22 Raptor was unveiled on April 9, 1997, at Lockheed-Georgia Co., Marietta, Georgia, and conducted its first flight on September 7, 1997. The Raptor achieved initial operational capability on December 15, 2005.

Why should I become an Aerospace Engineer?

It took thousands of years before technology was sophisticated enough to develop a successful powered aircraft. Yet less than a century later, aircraft fly many times faster than the speed of sound, and spacecraft travel to other planets in the solar system, and beyond. We have come a long way since that windy day at Kitty Hawk. Much of this could have taken place within your lifetime, but more than likely you are on the threshold of even more exciting endeavors. You will see things like an earth orbiting space station, colonization of the Moon or Mars, space-based solar power stations, an active search for extraterrestrial life, and the capability to travel to any point on earth in only a couple of hours. Thanks to aerospace engineering, all of this can happen within your lifetime.

When powered flight began, it was a highly dangerous endeavor for the courageous and farsighted. In less than a century, it has grown into one of the most complex, exacting, and advanced known technologies. An amazing array of equipment and accomplishments followed those first flights, each new advance building on a foundation of previous research, development, testing, and operational experience. The past few decades have seen the aerospace industry and its supporting sciences and technologies expand beyond the Earth’s thin atmosphere to embrace manned and unmanned travel through space to the moon and planets. Plans for the colonization of space are well underway, and you could be a major factor in this development. Aerospace technology has also expanded to involve itself with the design and development of new earthbound vehicles, such as performance automobiles, hydrofoil ships, deep-diving vessels for oceanographic research, and high-speed rail-type systems.

Aerospace engineering and technology are probably the most specialized and yet the most diversified fields there are. Products and spin-offs from aerospace projects are now used in many household items, including Teflon, Velcro, and freeze-dried foods. Aerospace professionals may apply their knowledge to build better aircraft, send a spacecraft to Mars, or design a satellite used in predicting the weather. Yet these same aerospace professionals may use their knowledge to study how the wind will affect a new building in a large urban area, design an energy-conserving skyscraper, or research an artificial heart.

The future of aerospace is as exciting and challenging as its history. It will continue to offer rewarding careers with opportunities for advancement and original contributions to engineering and science.

What does an Aerospace Engineer do??

What does an Aerospace Engineer do??
With a degree in aerospace engineering, you will meet the qualifications for many different positions. The following engineering fields are only a sampling of available job descriptions and are nowhere near complete. However, they do provide the reader with some insight into basic operations.

There are three basic members of the aerospace team: the engineer, the scientist, and the technician. The following describes positions for aerospace engineers and scientists, and the role of the technician.

THE AEROSPACE ENGINEER

The aerospace engineer is often a specialist in one of the many areas such as propulsion, aerodynamics, fluids, flight mechanics, heat transfer, structures, cost analysis, reliability, survivability, maintainability, operations research, marketing, or airspace management. Aerospace engineers have also applied their knowledge to related fields such as automated mass transportation, bioengineering, medical systems, environmental engineering, communications, and many more. In such applications, specialists in advanced technology are needed to do the job, and the aerospace engineer is the one to do it.

Analytical
Analytical engineers combine knowledge of mathematical theory and an understanding of fundamental engineering to analyze data from a wide range of research. Stress analysts determine the loads to which various components of the product will be subjected under certain conditions and calculate the distribution of these loads. Analysts also determine the allowable stresses throughout the structure. Aerospace structures are often analyzed with the aid of computers. Complex codes are developed from mathematical models using a finite element mode (FEM).

Computational Fluid Dynamics
Computational fluid dynamics engineers use high-speed computers to numerically solve the nonlinear equations governing fluid motion. This mathematical modeling of flow around an object can save large amounts of time and money, as well as alleviate the potential risk involved with experimental testing. With the rapid advancements in computer technology, the potential uses of CFD are greatly increasing.

Design
The design field offers some of the best opportunities for advancement to an engineer with new and creative ideas. It may be said that all specialists are advisors to the design engineer. Design engineers determine the structure, arrangement, and function of a component or the entire design to meet the specifications dictated by the aerodynamics or astrodynamics, structural, weights, and production engineers. The modern designer will use the computer as well as the drawing board to create designs. CAD/CAM or computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing is a tool that now plays an important role in the design process.

Materials and Processes
The materials engineer tests and evaluates materials, conventional or composite, used in aerospace structures. Material properties such as tensile strength, material density, and rigidity must be considered under the environmental conditions to which the materials will be subjected. The effects of temperature and fatigue are of particular importance.

Systems Software
Systems engineers perform the requirements, analysis, and definition of the overall system and its subsystem. To do this, systems engineers must use an overall knowledge of engineering and mathematics, while interfacing with both the customer and the other engineering disciplines involved in the project.
Aerospace system is controlled by computers, which require programming. The software programs are designed and tested by software engineers.

Manufacturing
Manufacturing engineers plan the tooling, construction, and assembly of the product as dictated by the design specifications. Machine tools, design dies, and fixtures are developed to produce individual parts for components or vehicles. Manufacturing engineers work closely with design engineers to secure designs that can be economically manufactured.

Cost Analysis
Before a proposal is initiated and funded for development, it is very important to provide an accurate analysis of all costs involved. An engineer dedicated to cost analysis may determine whether his or her company receives a contract. Which company can supply the best product for the lowest price? How close was this to their projected costs?

-Ilities
When developing a product, the customer’s needs are always one of the top priorities. The user/buyer is concerned with the reliability, maintainability, vulnerability, survivability, and overall supportability of the final product. It is up to an engineer to consider all of these factors during all stages of development.

Flight Test
The flight test engineer uses a wide range of theories, concepts, and equations to analyze and reduce flight test data. From this data, the engineer determines how well design specifications were met in such areas as propulsion, aerodynamics, structures, stability and control, performance, and vehicle systems. Specific duties may include planning the flight test, conducting the flight test program, reviewing the flight test results, reducing and analyzing the flight test data, and preparing flight reports.

Marketing
Sales engineers inform potential buyers of product performance. They act as liaisons between the customer and industry and insure that the product is delivered according to specification. A knowledge of competitive aerospace products is needed as well as an understanding of sales contract preparation. Sales engineers also determine future needs as far ahead of time as possible and prepare reports to this effect to guide production.

Field Service
Company representatives provide maintenance and service information to customers after the product is delivered. This helps ensure optimum use of the product. Company representatives work closely with manufacturing and engineering to overcome operational difficulties. Field service duties require technical know-how and the ability to deal with people.

Management
Supervision is essential in any type of job. Engineers with experience and leadership qualities may find that they have the ability to deal with human problems, business decisions, and technical activities.


THE SCIENTIST

While engineers apply skills to solving specific problems with known facts, scientists probe the unknown. They seek to know "why" rather than "how," – and attempt to present the rules upon which engineers may build. Scientists may choose to work in one of several environments:

Industrial Research and Development
In an aerospace organization, scientists are the key to research and development. They direct the discovery of new products and processes.

Private and Government Laboratories
The goal of scientists in a private or government laboratory is to broaden the state of the art by deriving new theories. Their work may take the form of pure research. They may, however, develop or extend theory to explain specific problems.

Academic Research
If a scientist has the ability to convey knowledge in a clear and concise manner, teaching in a college or university may be a choice. The academic environment provides the perfect setting for the purest form of research. By combining research and education, a scientist not only advances the state of the science, but also encourages others to take on this rewarding task. Research is an intellectual process combining mental discipline, personal insight, analysis of observation, and prediction of future phenomenon. Those who have a deep curiosity about the unknowns of the universe and have the patience for systematic observation may have an aptitude for aerospace science.

THE TECHNICIAN

Technicians support the aerospace engineers and scientists. They are usually people who are primarily hardware-oriented and who may have obtained as much as four years of undergraduate college work. The technician is the third member of the aerospace team.

Source: http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=214#WHAT