Design, Integration and Sea Trials of 3D Printed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Unmanned Surface Vehicle for Cooperative Missions

TL;DR

This paper presents the design, integration, and sea testing of a cooperative UAV-USV system with 3D printed components, enhancing maritime detection capabilities through precise landing and control algorithms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 3D printed UAV and USV platform with IR beacon-based landing, improving detection range and cooperative operation in maritime environments.

Findings

Successful sea trials demonstrating UAV landing on USV in various conditions

Enhanced detection range through cooperative UAV-USV system

Effective control and path following algorithms validated in real-world tests

Abstract

In recent years, Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) have been extensively deployed for maritime applications. However, USV has a limited detection range with sensor installed at the same elevation with the targets. In this research, we propose a cooperative Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - Unmanned Surface Vehicle (UAV-USV) platform to improve the detection range of USV. A floatable and waterproof UAV is designed and 3D printed, which allows it to land on the sea. A catamaran USV and landing platform are also developed. To land UAV on the USV precisely in various lighting conditions, IR beacon detector and IR beacon are implemented on the UAV and USV, respectively. Finally, a two-phase UAV precise landing method, USV control algorithm and USV path following algorithm are proposed and tested.