Ph.D. Thesis

Fusion of neural network with artificial bee colony Algorithm for Aerodynamic parameter estimation for linear and non-linear flights.

Guide: Dr. A.K Ghosh & Dr. Deepu Philip

• Design a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) from scratch such as Selection of Airfoil, Sizing of control surfaces, design of fuselage and selection of motor, propeller combination for VTOL as well as Fixed wing mode.

• Analytical calculation for performance analysis of the UAV such are power required, climb rate, turn rate roll rate, CG location, hinge moment and control surface deflection.

• Instrumentation of the aircraft to acquire flight data and perform specific maneuver to capture its full dynamics.

• Filtering, analyzing, and performing data compatibility test on the captured data.

• Validation of design and performance analysis through CFD, and analysis from real flight data.

• Design a Neural Network i.e., selection of Neural architecture (no of layers, number of input/output nodes, learning rate, momentum rate), training algorithm for best model performance.

• Estimation of the non-dimensional aerodynamic derivatives both longitudinal and lateral models using Artificial Bee colony optimization and trained neural network for linear and near stall flight regimes.

• Validation of the estimated derivatives by reconstructing the flight parameters from the equation of motions.

MTech. Thesis

Design and Development of Autonomous Light Weight Powered Paraglider.

Guide: Dr. A.K Ghosh

• Development of 6 Degree-of-Freedom Mathematical Model describing dynamics for the Parafoil-Payload system.

• Derivation and System Identification of simplified linear lateral and longitudinal models which are then verified by comparison with flight data.

• De-coupled linear models are used for controller design by classical frequency domain techniques, and simulation demonstrating the performance are conducted in MATLAB Simulink.

• Development of feedback compensated law for both heading and altitude tracking and an elementary path planning logic that allows for waypoint navigation

Development of Small-Sized Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for leakage detection of Gas Pipelines

Organization: Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL).

Role: Senior Research Associate *

Nature of Work:

• Design & Validation Fixed-Wing VTOL (Vertical Take-off & Landing) UAS, capable of operating in multiple terrains.

• Endurance and Range Testing in different environment conditions.

• Estimation Of Aerodynamic Parameters and uncertainty quantification Using Neuro-Artificial Bee Colony Fusion Algorithm for Real Flight Data for all flight regime

• Installation of Payload for leakage detection, image processing and optimization for robust detection.

• Estimation of performance parameters, leakage detection using Machine Learning algorithms.

Design of Various VTOL aircraft ranging from small UAV (~5kg Back-packable) to Large UAV (~80kg) to deliver slung payload

Organization: VTOL, Aviation Private Limited, Mumbai.

Role: Senior Research Associate *

Nature of Work:

• Design of UAV from scratch for surveying and payload delivery system and validation of model through CFD and Wind Tunnel Testing.

• Mathematical Model and System Identification for a simulation model based on the parameters estimated.

• Development of control logic for autopilot system and payload control logic.

Autonomous Flight Test of Low RCS Aircraft Configuration with Ducted Fan for Multiple Flight Modes

Organization: Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (Project)

Role: Senior Research Associate *

Nature of Work:

• Evaluating the flying wing configuration

• Creating aerodynamic database

• Identification/selection of suitable power plant

• Developing fabrication molds and manufacturing of the given configuration using composites

• Integration of autopilot, with flight data acquisition and validation

Development of High-Performance Solar Powered UAV

Organization: Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (Project)

Role: Project Engineer

Nature of Work:

• Design a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Solar UAV for solar cell integration

• Integration of Solar Power into UAV Propulsion System.

• Efficient solar power management system.

• Optimization between solar area and aerodynamics for long endurance.

Real-Time Object Tracking from a Small-Sized Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)

Organization: Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Role: Project Engineer

Nature of Work:

• Development of Algorithm for Gimbal Control (Pan and Tilt) for a target of interest.

• Implementation of Real time object tracking algorithm for still and moving target.

• Real time video processing and transmission from UAV to Ground Control System with minimum delay.