EnvE:an environment for the emulation of unmanned aerial vehicles

Since the dawn of modern computation, computing devices have been steadily increasing in both performance and efficiency while decreasing in cost. This trend has produced incredibly powerful computers in tiny form factors at prices that average consumers can afford. Installing such computational resources on a hobby-grade aircraft outfitted with microelectromechanical sensors results in a compelling UAV platform for both research and education in the field of cyber-physical systems. While such UAVs have great potential, they also pose significant danger to anyone in the vicinity of the UAV operation. With the extreme risks involved in flight testing, some method of controlled testing is needed prior to live testing. Providing such a method in a lab context would benefit both research and education applications of UAV systems. To that end, this work is focused on the development and use of an emulation environment for UAVs. The environment is designed with flexibility and versatility in mind. As such, it supports a wide range of hardware and software control platforms and numerous fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. By requiring only a PC, some cables, and the custom low-level adapter, it is ideal for use in a lab environment. Early evaluation has shown that EnvE provides invaluable testing opportunities for research and an incredible platform for cyber-physical systems education.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Computer Science

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2017

Author dc:creator

• Louis, Andrew Vincent

Contributors dc:contributor

• Caccamo, Marco

• EnvE
• Emulation
• Simulation
• Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
• Cyber-physical systems
• Radio control aircraft

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2017 Andrew Vincent Louis

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/97460

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/97460