UAV Lab, Open Research Platform for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This paper summarizes some of the joint research efforts of University of Minnesota, University of Sannio, Computer and Automation Research Institute (SZ- AKI) and Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) to develop an Unmanned Aerial System. The future aim of the research collaboration is to develop and test advanced navigation, control and fault detection algorithms running over an easily accessible, customizable platform in real flights. This collaboration resulted in a flight research platform which can be easily configured with different guidance, navigation and control algorithms including an easy way of code development and testing. The paper focuses on the fine-tuning of the system components implemented by SZTAKI and BME. The related work includes sensor calibration, modification of autopilot code and testing of simple PID control algorithms. The latest flight test results are included in the paper.