Brumby Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle flight dynamics-instrumentation and flight test results

This paper provides information on the design and performance of the instrumentation on the Ohio University Avionics Engineering Center's (AEC) Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the Brumby. In 1999 AEC purchased the delta wing Brumby airframe to conduct UAV related research. Recently the Brumby has been outfitted with instrumentation to collect data allowing for the system identification of the Brumby UAV. The goal was a lightweight (<10 lbs), low-power (<25 watts) data collection system designed to time-stamp and store data from the airdata probe, digital compass, Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, low cost Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and control surfaces. Also presented in this paper is the design methodology used in developing the data collection system, methods of time-stamping the data with precise GPS time, lessons learned about IMU operation in a high vibration environment, as well as the future design path of the avionics.