ColonelGork
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Hey guys, first time posting here...
I wanted to get any takes on a project I am doing for an AME class at University of Arizona. We are to design and construct any analog or digital circuit with the intent to demonstrate our circuit-design knowledge learned in the class through building a useful product that may or may not be developed further.
The project I have elected to pursue involves dropping a payload from a Predator UAV, and making use of the UAV's FLIR laser designator for terminal guidance to the designated point of impact. I want to direct the control surfaces of the dropped payload via IR sensors in the nose such that the payloads self-orients toward the IR-painted spot on the ground. For testing purposes, we will be using an IR lamp on the ground, and a static drop from a fixed height of ~130 feet (the top of the tallest building on campus).
This is my first time doing any aerodynamic "rocketry" since I was a kid (even though this is technically unpowered) and I haven't found much information online for fin control or guidance package solutions. Does anyone here have any experience with mounting infrared sensors in, or operating control surfaces on a model rocket?
A bit of background on this project:
Before I came to study at UA, I worked at GA-ASI on various Predator UAV projects, mostly as a QA technician and operator for their various payload packages. During one of my in-country deployments, I had the opportunity to work alongside government agents in air-based ground tracking operations. One of their missions involved following both moving and stationary ad-hoc ground targets using IR cameras. Unfortunately, one of the limitations of the system was this: while it was relatively easy to follow a moving target, it was difficult to come back to a reference point once that target had moved away. You see, looking down from the air in IR, everything in the wilderness tends to look alike, making precise re-acquisition of ground locations that much more difficult. My solution involves dropping an IR strobe-light from the aircraft to the ground reference point, such that the IR camera operator would be able to quickly re-identify the location. Of course, simply dropping a beacon from a moving aircraft that is hundreds (or thousands) of feet above the ground doesn't promise very much accuracy. This is where a lightweight fin-stabilized, IR-guided payload delivery system could come in to play. Using the IR-designator native to the FLIR camera assembly, an IR spot could be painted on the ground, to which the strobe payload would be dropped and home in upon.
The technical difficulties of designing the system to reliably deploy from a moving aircraft are going to be immense, but the basic sensor and fin-control concepts will give me a good start. So, any ideas?
I wanted to get any takes on a project I am doing for an AME class at University of Arizona. We are to design and construct any analog or digital circuit with the intent to demonstrate our circuit-design knowledge learned in the class through building a useful product that may or may not be developed further.
The project I have elected to pursue involves dropping a payload from a Predator UAV, and making use of the UAV's FLIR laser designator for terminal guidance to the designated point of impact. I want to direct the control surfaces of the dropped payload via IR sensors in the nose such that the payloads self-orients toward the IR-painted spot on the ground. For testing purposes, we will be using an IR lamp on the ground, and a static drop from a fixed height of ~130 feet (the top of the tallest building on campus).
This is my first time doing any aerodynamic "rocketry" since I was a kid (even though this is technically unpowered) and I haven't found much information online for fin control or guidance package solutions. Does anyone here have any experience with mounting infrared sensors in, or operating control surfaces on a model rocket?
A bit of background on this project:
Before I came to study at UA, I worked at GA-ASI on various Predator UAV projects, mostly as a QA technician and operator for their various payload packages. During one of my in-country deployments, I had the opportunity to work alongside government agents in air-based ground tracking operations. One of their missions involved following both moving and stationary ad-hoc ground targets using IR cameras. Unfortunately, one of the limitations of the system was this: while it was relatively easy to follow a moving target, it was difficult to come back to a reference point once that target had moved away. You see, looking down from the air in IR, everything in the wilderness tends to look alike, making precise re-acquisition of ground locations that much more difficult. My solution involves dropping an IR strobe-light from the aircraft to the ground reference point, such that the IR camera operator would be able to quickly re-identify the location. Of course, simply dropping a beacon from a moving aircraft that is hundreds (or thousands) of feet above the ground doesn't promise very much accuracy. This is where a lightweight fin-stabilized, IR-guided payload delivery system could come in to play. Using the IR-designator native to the FLIR camera assembly, an IR spot could be painted on the ground, to which the strobe payload would be dropped and home in upon.
The technical difficulties of designing the system to reliably deploy from a moving aircraft are going to be immense, but the basic sensor and fin-control concepts will give me a good start. So, any ideas?
