Sources: Dale Schinstock, 785-532-2608, dales@k-state.edu;
and Bryan Rogler, brogler@k-state.edu
Photo Available. Download at http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/jun11/629aiaateam.jpg
Cutline: Members of the K-State chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Front row, from left: Jacob Wagner, Jacob Kongs, Nathan Feldkamp, Jeremy Taylor and Bryan Rogler; Middle row: Jon Albrecht, Shawn Georg and Brian Blankenau; Back row: Nathan Reichenberger. Not pictured: Jonathan Thompson, Brandon Lackey and Eric Johnson.
Video available at http://youtu.be/4L0DKo7kA9E?hd=1
News release prepared by: Tyler Sharp, 785-532-2535, media@k-state.edu

Thursday, June 30, 2011

TAKING FLIGHT: 1xbet online games login COMPETITION TEAM PLACES FIFTH AT UNMANNED SYSTEM CONTEST

MANHATTAN -- When the Kansas State University chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics restarted in fall 2010, club members knew they wanted to participate in a design competition.

They settled on the ninth annual Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's Student Unmanned Air Systems Competition, June 15-19 in Patuxent River, Md. Their choice paid off with a fifth-place finish -- a performance that makes K-State's Dale Schinstock, associate professor of mechanical and nuclear 1xbet online games login , quite proud.

&1xbet online games login ;Given that this year was their first year, that they were competing with many teams that had been to the competition for nine years, and that they had to build a new plane after theirs crashed a little over a week before competition, I think a fifth-place finish is outstanding,&1xbet online games login ; he said.

The club used autopilot hardware on loan from the K-State Salina unmanned aircraft systems program. Members also used the Autonomous Vehicle Systems Lab, a part of the department of mechanical and nuclear 1xbet online games login , for construction and testing of the aircraft.

The team focused on two primary components of the project: the autopilot and camera systems. The camera had to be be light, not require too much power and fit within the fuselage of the plane. It also had to have a certain resolution and be able to transmit pictures at a sufficient rate. Club members went through several options before settling on a series of web cameras that would allow for 60 degrees of viewing on each side and a Wi-Fi transmission system. Three web cameras also were used for a maximum span of reference and the ability to turn as necessary.

"It gives us a time rate of one picture for every two to three seconds," said Bryan Rogler, senior in mechanical 1xbet online games login , Olathe, and the K-State chapter's president. &1xbet online games login ;At the air speed we are flying, it gives us some good overlap -- which is good so we won't miss 100 yards of field that we are trying to fly.&1xbet online games login ;

Adapting the autopilot system to fly the aircraft required considerable work through dynamic modeling. Information supplied included wingspan, total mass of the plane and even facts about the camera system. The plane, controlled by a club member, must also have control gains applied. Control gains are numbers that must be set in the autopilot for each aircraft that allow the autopilot to fly the vehicle.

At competitions the plane must recognize targets in the field autonomously or without human interaction. This is accomplished by the plane's camera system sending pictures to the ground station in real time while the autopilot flies the aircraft along an orderly flight path to search the area.

&1xbet online games login ;You have to recognize color, shape of the target and the alphanumeric character, including its color and orientation,&1xbet online games login ; Rogler said. &1xbet online games login ;With that we've been using a lot of MATLAB coding in order to run through pixels.&1xbet online games login ;

The club's plane is a large radio-controlled aircraft. It is piloted by a club member who is backed up by a pilot from K-State Salina. The K-State Salina pilot can take manual control if necessary, Rogler said.

J. Garth Thompson, professor of mechanical and nuclear 1xbet online games login , served as one of the team's advisers. Schinstock served as the team's technical adviser because of his research experience with autopilot systems. He thinks it's important for K-State to maintain its chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

&1xbet online games login ;Doing projects like this gives the students experience that they won't get in the classroom,&1xbet online games login ; he said. &1xbet online games login ;They really get a chance to grow when they are doing one of these projects. Not only do they have to solve the problem in an open-ended way without clear answers, they each work on a part of the project and then have to come together with a complete system in the end.&1xbet online games login ;

Along with Rogler, team members include:

Jonathan Thompson, junior in aviation maintenance and professional pilot, Clay Center; Jacob Wagner, senior in mechanical 1xbet online games login , Manhattan; Nathan Reichenberger, junior in computer 1xbet online games login , Mount Hope; Shawn Georg, senior in mechanical 1xbet online games login , and Brandon Lackey, senior in electrical 1xbet online games login , both of Sabetha; Jon Albrecht, senior in mechanical 1xbet online games login , Salina; Jeremy Taylor, sophomore in mechanical 1xbet online games login , Ulysses; Jacob Kongs, junior in computer 1xbet online games login , Washington; and Nathan Feldkamp, junior in computer science, Wichita.

From out of state: Nick Clattenburg, senior in mechanical 1xbet online games login , Paron, Ark., Eric Johnson, doctoral student in mechanical 1xbet online games login , Caldwell, Idaho; and Brian Blankenau, junior in mechanical 1xbet online games login , Lincoln, Neb.