An Autonomous, Target-Detecting, Fixed-Wing UAS for Simulated Search-and-Rescue Missions

A student-built unmanned aerial system (UAS) was developed by the University of Hawaii Drone Technologies team for the 2017 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Student Unmanned Aerial System (SUAS) competition, which simulates a search-and-rescue (SAR) mission. The UAS comprises a fixed-wing airframe integrated with flight control and communication components, and is capable of autonomous waypoint navigation, in-flight data transfer, aerial image capture with onboard image processing, and aerial payload delivery. The UAS is capable of executing a 30-minute SAR mission in search of a simulated lost hiker. SAR tasks include autonomously navigating to a designated area, conducting a search for alphanumeric targets over a 370,000-m
²
search area, and autonomously dropping an 8-oz care package to the lost hiker. Image-processing and computer-vision algorithms can correctly sense and identify the alphanumeric targets with 75% accuracy.