{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5496"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5496","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system","abstract":"Parafoils have been used in various aerospace, military and sport applications to return both personnel and payloads safely to the ground. Deflection of the trailing edge flaps by means of control lines allows for turn rates of up to 60° per second, which provides superior controllability when compared to conventional round parachutes. This steering ability has led to the development of autonomous control systems that are able to navigate a payload to land in close proximity to a designated landing site. In order to develop an autonomous navigation system a suitable dynamic model of the parafoil with suspended payload is required to determine the parameters and characteristics of the system in free flight. Flexible ram-air inflated parafoils display high sensitivity to atmospheric disturbances which complicates the comparison of measured flight-dynamic data to theoretical models in an open air free flight test. In order to improve the quality of results in studying the flight dynamics of an unmanned parafoil system in free flight, controlled conditions and a repeatable flight path are required to perform data analysis for various trim configurations. This leads to the requirement of a launching system that ensures consistent inflation of the canopy and repeatable launch velocities for various canopy and payload configurations.","abstract_html":"Parafoils have been used in various aerospace, military and sport applications to return both personnel and payloads safely to the ground. Deflection of the trailing edge flaps by means of control lines allows for turn rates of up to 60° per second, which provides superior controllability when compared to conventional round parachutes. This steering ability has led to the development of autonomous control systems that are able to navigate a payload to land in close proximity to a designated landing site. In order to develop an autonomous navigation system a suitable dynamic model of the parafoil with suspended payload is required to determine the parameters and characteristics of the system in free flight. Flexible ram-air inflated parafoils display high sensitivity to atmospheric disturbances which complicates the comparison of measured flight-dynamic data to theoretical models in an open air free flight test. In order to improve the quality of results in studying the flight dynamics of an unmanned parafoil system in free flight, controlled conditions and a repeatable flight path are required to perform data analysis for various trim configurations. This leads to the requirement of a launching system that ensures consistent inflation of the canopy and repeatable launch velocities for various canopy and payload configurations.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Norton, William Alexander"],"institution":"Department of Mechanical Engineering","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Redelinghuys, Christiaan"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010","date_published":"2010","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:49Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5496","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Redelinghuys, Christiaan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Norton, William Alexander"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-07-31T11:19:22Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-07-31T11:19:22Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2010"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["MSc"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5496"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes summary.","Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Parafoils have been used in various aerospace, military and sport applications to return both personnel and payloads safely to the ground. Deflection of the trailing edge flaps by means of control lines allows for turn rates of up to 60° per second, which provides superior controllability when compared to conventional round parachutes. This steering ability has led to the development of autonomous control systems that are able to navigate a payload to land in close proximity to a designated landing site. In order to develop an autonomous navigation system a suitable dynamic model of the parafoil with suspended payload is required to determine the parameters and characteristics of the system in free flight. Flexible ram-air inflated parafoils display high sensitivity to atmospheric disturbances which complicates the comparison of measured flight-dynamic data to theoretical models in an open air free flight test. In order to improve the quality of results in studying the flight dynamics of an unmanned parafoil system in free flight, controlled conditions and a repeatable flight path are required to perform data analysis for various trim configurations. This leads to the requirement of a launching system that ensures consistent inflation of the canopy and repeatable launch velocities for various canopy and payload configurations."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Redelinghuys, Christiaan"],"dc:creator":["Norton, William Alexander"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-07-31T11:19:22Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-31T11:19:22Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2010"],"dc:description":["Includes summary.","Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73)."],"dc:description.abstract":["Parafoils have been used in various aerospace, military and sport applications to return both personnel and payloads safely to the ground. Deflection of the trailing edge flaps by means of control lines allows for turn rates of up to 60° per second, which provides superior controllability when compared to conventional round parachutes. This steering ability has led to the development of autonomous control systems that are able to navigate a payload to land in close proximity to a designated landing site. In order to develop an autonomous navigation system a suitable dynamic model of the parafoil with suspended payload is required to determine the parameters and characteristics of the system in free flight. Flexible ram-air inflated parafoils display high sensitivity to atmospheric disturbances which complicates the comparison of measured flight-dynamic data to theoretical models in an open air free flight test. In order to improve the quality of results in studying the flight dynamics of an unmanned parafoil system in free flight, controlled conditions and a repeatable flight path are required to perform data analysis for various trim configurations. This leads to the requirement of a launching system that ensures consistent inflation of the canopy and repeatable launch velocities for various canopy and payload configurations."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5496"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["The development, optimisation and testing of an unmanned parafoil launch system"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["MSc"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:49Z"}