41-50 of 75 results

  • Shielded UAS Operations Detect and Avoid

    PI Hever Moncayo

    ​This effort is intended to identify risks and recommend solutions to the FAA that enable shielded UAS operations

    ​This project is funded under the FAA ASSURE program. Certain small UAS (sUAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, such as structural inspection, may be in close proximity to structures that are collision hazards for manned aircraft. These types of operations that are in close proximity to manned aviation flight obstacles such that they provide significant protection from conflicts and collisions with manned aircraft are termed “shielded” operations. This effort is intended to identify risks and recommend solutions to the FAA that enable shielded UAS operations. Several topics related to this project include simulation of dynamic systems, simulation environment programming, guidance, control and dynamics, and hardware implementation.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Vision and Wireless-Based Surveying for Intelligent OSAM Navigation (VISION)

    PI Hever Moncayo

    CO-I Kadriye Merve Dogan

    ​In this project, which is a SpaceWERX Phase I STTR program with Orbital Prime, we are developing algorithms to increase autonomy of OSAM applications. 

    ​In this project, which is a SpaceWERX Phase I STTR program with Orbital Prime, we are developing algorithms to increase autonomy of OSAM applications. This includes the application of machine learning techniques to improve accuracy of position and orientation estimation for proximity operations in space. Machine learning include deep learning combined with vision-based navigation designed and tested in both, virtual simulation environment and actual thrust-based spacecraft system.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Mitigating GPS and ADS-B Risks for UAS

    PI Hever Moncayo

    ​In this project, the research team is investigating different strategies to mitigate such risks and proposing methodologies to increase safety of UAS operations within the National Airspace.

    This project is funded under the FAA ASSURE program. Unvalidated or unavailable GPS and “ADS-B In” data poses security and safety risks to automated UAS navigation and to Detect and Avoid operations. Erroneous, spoofed, jammed or dropouts of GPS data may result in unmanned aircraft position and navigation being incorrect. This may result in a fly away beyond radio control, flight into infrastructure or flight into controlled airspace. Erroneous, spoofed, jammed or dropouts of “ADSB-In” data may result in automated unmanned aircraft being unable to detect and avoid other aircraft or result in detecting and avoiding illusionary aircraft.

    In this project, the research team is investigating different strategies to mitigate such risks and proposing methodologies to increase safety of UAS operations within the National Airspace. Several topics related to this project include simulation of dynamic systems, artificial intelligence, flight testing of UAS and hardware implementation.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Efficient Management of Certificate Revocation List (CRL)

    PI Shafika Showkat Moni

    Most of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) based security and privacy solutions for VANETs use pseudonyms where each vehicle gets multiple identities to improve privacy significantly.

    Most of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) based security and privacy solutions for VANETs use pseudonyms where each vehicle gets multiple identities to improve privacy significantly. A vehicle needs 720 pseudonyms in 24 hours and 262,800 pseudonyms in 1 year, according to the US-based SAE J2735 standard. Trusted Authority (TA) revokes all the pseudonyms assigned to a malicious vehicle and stores them in the CRL. However, the overhead of maintaining such a large volume of identities is overwhelming for traditional CRL-based solutions. In turn, it incurs a higher delay to update and broadcast the CRL periodically. We have designed a novel approach by leveraging the Cuckoo Filter to reduce the storage, computation, and communication overhead associated with the CRL in VANET. The cuckoo filter contains only one entry for all pseudonyms of a revoked vehicle, thereby minimizing the overhead associated with CRL verification. Our scheme also provides an efficient lookup operation for vehicles and Road Side Units (RSUs) in a Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) scenario.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Privacy-Preserving Authentication Scheme

    PI Shafika Showkat Moni

    This research project focuses on designing efficient privacy-preserving authentication schemes to reduce the communication and computation overhead related to authenticating entities in VANET.

    This research project focuses on designing efficient privacy-preserving authentication schemes to reduce the communication and computation overhead related to authenticating entities in VANET. We have exploited Merkle Hash Tree and Modified Merkle Patricia Trie (MMPT) to overcome the performance limitations of the conventional approach of authentication, such as the ECDSA algorithm for efficient authentication of Road Side Units (RSUs) and Vehicles in VANET. A detailed security analysis is carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of our authentication scheme against message modification attacks, replay attacks, and message injection attacks. Performance evaluation also shows that the proposed scheme has a significantly lower authentication overhead than other related schemes. 

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Nanoscale Design of Interfacial Kinematics in Composite Manufacturing

    PI Sirish Namilae

    CO-I Marwan Al-Haik

    This NSF-funded research will elucidate the role of interfacial kinematics and energetics in the evolution of inter-ply interfaces in composite structures during manufacturing. The research team will develop a novel experimental method for in-situ characterization of surface and interface deformations during composite processing, utilizing a customized commercial composite autoclave with a digital image correlation system. The surface strain and displacement measurements will be combined with ex-situ X-ray tomography and thermal characterization to map the interfacial thermomechanical response as a function of design and processing parameters. Additionally, the interfacial behavior will be engineered through the rapid and controlled growth of ZnO nanowires on carbon fibers to create a nanoscale interfacial component that increases the fiber bending resistance and creates an interlocking effect at the interfaces to mitigate defects propagation. The experimental research will be complemented by molecular dynamics simulations of the sliding of amorphous polymer interfaces and mesoscale simulation of flow in porous media. This comprehensive approach of in-situ characterization, interface design, and modeling will lead to a fundamental understanding of the ply movement during composite manufacturing and development of methods to reduce the occurrence of processing-induced defects.



    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Software Infrastructure For Analysis of Infection Propagation Through Air Travel

    PI Sirish Namilae

    This NSF funded  project seeks to develop a novel software that will provide a variety of pedestrian dynamics models, infection spread models, as well as data so that scientists can analyze the effect of different mechanisms on the spread of directly transmitted diseases in crowded areas. The initial focus of this project is on air travel. However, the software can be extended to a broader scope of applications in movement analysis and epidemiology, such as in theme parks and sports venues. Development of the proposed software will involve several innovations. It will include a novel phylogeography model that links fine-scale human movement data with virus genetic information to more accurately model geographic diffusion of viruses. New models for pedestrian movement will enable modeling of complex human movement patterns. A recommendation system for the choice of pedestrian dynamics models and a domain specific language for the input of policies and human behaviors will enhance usability by researchers in diverse fields. Community building initiatives will catalyze inter-disciplinary research to ensures the long-term sustainability of the project through a critical mass of contributors and users.



    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Experimental Testbed for the Validation of Autonomous ISAM/OSAM Systems

    PI Morad Nazari

    CO-I Kadriye Merve Dogan

    CO-I Thomas Lovell

    The ability to validate individual hardware and software components of these technologies on a large scale is still in its early stages. Thus, the goal of this research is to establish an effective experimental testbed for the validation of autonomous in-space servicing and maintenance (ISAM) / on-orbit servicing and maintenance (OSAM) systems.


    A new era of affordable space flight, satellite refueling, on-orbit inspection, orbit transfer and end-of-life servicing has begun as a result of the space industry's continued focus on safe, resilient and adaptable space vehicles. These developments have laid the groundwork for assembly and manufacturing in orbit or space for potential use in active debris removal, reuse and recycling of materials. Advanced navigation and control technologies are required to ensure and lengthen the mission life cycles of these orbital assets, which include launch vehicles, satellites and space stations. Orbit/attitude determination, relative motion, robot manipulator kinematics and spacecraft rendezvous/docking can benefit from new advances in geometric mechanics Udwadia-Kalaba, adaptive control, learning, sensor fusion, computer vision and data communication. These efforts aim to equip future enterprises with the ability to perform in-space servicing and maintenance (ISAM) and on-orbit servicing and maintenance (OSAM) of failed or damaged space assets, as well as in-space manufacturing and platform assembly. However, the ability to validate individual hardware and software components of these technologies on a large scale is still in its early stages. Thus, the goal of this research is to establish an effective experimental testbed for the validation of autonomous ISAM/OSAM systems.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Flexible Body Control Using Fiber Optic Sensors, Florida Space Grant Consortium

    PI Morad Nazari

    CO-I Daewon Kim

    ​This project would build on previous research that developed the dynamics formulation and control of a rigid-flexible system.

    This project would build on previous research that developed the dynamics formulation and control of a rigid-flexible system. A cantilevered beam attached to a rotating central body is considered and analyzed through the finite element method. A set of matrix differential equations are obtained to describe the dynamic behavior of the system, and a control law based on a Lyapunov function is obtained and applied to the system. The development of this dynamics formulation and control also considers the rigid-flexible coupling present in the system. The control law is designed such that the system can achieve and maintain a set of desired states for the central rigid body and flexible structure. The experimental measurements obtained from the implementation of FOS sensors on the flexible body and inertial sensors on the rigid body will be utilized as the input in this control design. The research portion of the project is anticipated to require one or two graduate student research assistants and a part-time academic advisor over a one-year period.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Reconfigurable Guidance and Control Systems for Emerging On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (OSAM) Space Vehicles

    PI Morad Nazari

    CO-I Kadriye Merve Dogan

    In this project, the ControlX team with ERAU partnership will develop agile, reconfigurable, and resilient dynamics and G&C algorithms for on-orbit servicing to capture a broad set of OSAM applications such as remediation of resident space object (RSO) (e.g., via de-orbiting, recycle, end-of-life servicing, satellite refueling, etc.) using effective tools and methods involving geometric mechanics, constrained G&C synthesis, and reconfigurable robotic manipulators (RRMs). 

    ​

    Dynamic response to emergent situations is a necessity in the on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (OSAM) field because traditional on-orbit guidance and control (G&C) cannot respond efficiently and effectively to such dynamic situations (i.e., they are based on either constant mass or diagonal matrix of inertia). In these circumstances, the current challenge is to develop modeling strategies and control systems that exhibit intelligence, robustness and adaptation to the environment changes and disturbances (e.g., uncertainties, constraints and flexible dynamics). Note that the current state-of-the-art methods do not offer a reliable, accurate framework for real-time, optimal accommodation of constraints in the system dynamics that account for orbital-attitude coupling in the motion of the bodies without encountering singularity or non-uniqueness issues. In this project, the ControlX team with ERAU partnership will develop agile, reconfigurable, and resilient dynamics and G&C algorithms for on-orbit servicing to capture a broad set of OSAM applications such as remediation of resident space object (RSO) (e.g., via de-orbiting, recycle, end-of-life servicing, satellite refueling, etc.) using effective tools and methods involving geometric mechanics, constrained G&C synthesis, and reconfigurable robotic manipulators (RRMs). 

    The proposed work in this Phase I includes reconfigurable systems for on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing with learning control methods that minimize tracking error of the end-effector of the RRM in the presence of uncertainties, optimize configuration and accommodate constraint-changing scenarios. Our developments will avoid singularity; not rely on the concept of costates or Lagrange multipliers that are restrictive; handle system uncertainties while enforcing the constraints; use RRMs in different tasks (recycle, debris removing, maintenance, etc.); not need in sensors or exact model knowledge for robotic arms. Specifically, constrained space vehicle control (predicated on Udwadia and Kalaba (UK) formalism) will offer not only accurate and resilient design but also reconfigurability in that G&C algorithms can easily be modified to suit a wide spectrum of OSAM applications. ControlX team will also consider the feasibility of hardware implementation. The selection of sensors, actuators and onboard computers will be an important trade-off between among size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints, reliability, and computing performance. A real-time operating system (RTOS) is planned to meet timing and memory management constraints, partitioning hardware resources to control software application interactions. An analysis suite for the autonomous system implementation, based on system modeling and learning techniques, will provide onboard analysis, enabling decision-making as to whether the system can continue to meet mission requirements.

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    Categories: Faculty-Staff

41-50 of 75 results