The collaborative workforce built-in NPS’ personal cutting-edge flight-path planning software program often known as POTION (Path Optimization) with the Vanilla UAV, developed and operated by Platform Aerospace. This initiative pushed the boundaries of their analysis, subjecting the Vanilla-POTION mixture to rigorous testing within the daunting North Slope of Alaska, making one of the best of a slender climate window.
Remarkably, the outcomes of the Arctic flight in September surpassed all expectations, in addition to quite a few data set by Vanilla in earlier missions. This achievement underscores the distinctive capabilities of the Vanilla-POTION mixture and represents a milestone in advancing UAV know-how for naval operations throughout the scope of the long-term partnership.
Main NPS efforts on what he phrases “energy-aware aerial flight” is NPS Affiliate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Dr. Vladimir Dobrokhodov, who started at NPS as a postdoctoral fellow in 2001.
“A glider’s effectivity is quantified by its even handed vitality utilization, a stark distinction to the fight effectivity metrics utilized to fighter plane. Much like transport planes, gliders intention to traverse huge distances with minimal gas consumption,” defined Dobrokhodov. “Over a meticulous nine-year collaboration between NPS and NRL, revolutionary approaches have been developed to optimize effectivity of lengthy endurance plane.”
Again in 2014, Dobrokhodov labored alongside NRL’s Dr. Dan Edwards and Dr. Richard Stroman to discover energy-aware flight analysis with a novel hybrid UAV referred to as Hybrid Tiger that built-in hydrogen gas cell, photo voltaic and atmospheric wind energy-harvesting applied sciences.
The challenge spanned three years and acquired funding from the Operational Vitality Functionality Enchancment Fund (OECIF), the Division of Protection’s premier joint operational vitality funding program, in addition to assist from DOD’s Operational Vitality Prototyping Fund (OEPF), which performed a key position in growth of energy-focused mission planning instruments. Finally, the initiative developed into the energy-aware challenge referred to as POTION.
Central to the challenge’s achievements was the event of optimum trajectory planning software program emulating the energy-conserving flight patterns of migrating birds navigating atmospheric wind rivers. Within the realm of energy-efficient flight, characterised by low airspeeds and altitudes, susceptibility to the opposed results of sturdy winds and icing is amplified, making flight-path planning extraordinarily difficult for human operators. Mathematical optimization of routing turns into important, necessitating a fancy software program resolution that permits the plane to skillfully navigate by numerous and doubtlessly hazardous climate situations.
Shut collaboration with MAE professors Mark Karpenko and Kevin Jones, researchers who’ve spent years within the space of flight effectivity and optimum management engineering, helped to advance the vitality optimum method to what’s now POTION. The workforce developed the propulsion effectivity mannequin of an plane to mannequin the Vanilla UAV’s gas consumption and used machine studying to combine that mannequin into the algorithm for route optimization.
“Utilizing neural networks to signify and shortly execute an in any other case sophisticated vitality mannequin was a key enabler for optimizing Vanilla’s flight path,” Karpenko mentioned.
Climate forecasts from Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (METOC) have been used to tell multi-day missions of the climate situations forward. Simply as with ships, an plane may waste valuable vitality flying instantly into headwinds even when it’s a extra direct flight path. POTION designs a mission that finds essentially the most energy-advantageous route by time-varying three-dimensional winds by referencing METOC climate forecasts that stretch as much as 5-8 days.
To check the POTION software program, researchers wanted a novel plane to host the know-how, and located one in Vanilla, a Group III UAV. Vanilla UAVs have a most endurance of 10 days, a payload capability of 150 kilos, and a most vary of 15,000 nautical miles. Vanilla’s functionality for lengthy endurance flight makes it particularly appropriate for life like testing of its flight efficiency in wind and icing situations, and thus a first-rate candidate for testing the POTION software program.
Initially, flight testing was to be performed in California, however a last-minute change necessitated launching the Vanilla UAV from Alaska’s North Slope – above the Arctic Circle – in tough climate. Usually, Vanilla is required to be “chased” by a manned plane within the terminal space of airports, however the climate was so intense that the escort plane couldn’t take off. As a substitute, Vanilla was given an opportunity to fly utilizing Instrument Flight Guidelines (IFR) totally autonomously and following the POTION-generated routes.
“In essentially the most extreme arctic situations, Vanilla demonstrated distinctive efficiency, attaining unprecedented milestones in its operational historical past. Notably, it set data for the longest period flown by a Vanilla plane in Arctic environments, coated the best distance at these latitudes, and marked its inaugural operation using Instrument Flight Guidelines (IFR),” mentioned Dobrokhodov. “We had so many expectations and none of them have been met. Simply none. Each single one was exceeded, and it was unimaginable. On the time when Vanilla landed, we (Dobrokhodov, Edwards, and Stroman) simply checked out one another understanding this took us 9 years to make it occur. And now every little thing had lastly clicked collectively.”
In honor of the a hundred and first flight by a Vanilla UAV and its distinctive location, the workforce named the flight Arctic 101. In accordance with Karpenko, “Arctic 101 was additionally a becoming identify for our first flight as a result of we discovered rather a lot, particularly about deploying POTION software program within the ‘wild’.”
By including NPS’ POTION software program to the Vanilla UAV, the workforce was capable of considerably prolong its endurance, and lengthening UAV endurance bears profound implications for army operations.
On this respect, the POTION software program developed by NPS stands as a pivotal instrument, facilitating the automation of mission optimization involving lengthy endurance plane deployment from a base, navigating to a chosen location for prolonged loitering, and subsequently returning to base. This versatile software program is appropriate with numerous plane platforms and may very well be seamlessly built-in with practically any floor management station.
The operational situation within the Arctic additionally showcased the transformative potential of POTION. Notably, it successfully mitigated the operator’s cognitive load related to the intricate multi-day mission design and administration course of, marking a considerable development in operational effectivity.
The POTION analysis initiative has confirmed instrumental in advancing the information base of quite a few NPS college students. Through the previous three years, seven college students in numerous NPS departments have chosen operational vitality and its efficacy in plane functions as the point of interest of their thesis subjects.
Whereas some college students originated from the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering division – together with U.S. Navy Ensign Luke Lalumandier, a June 2023 graduate whose work centered on the energy-optimal steering of UAS methods in various wind environments – it’s noteworthy that Operations Analysis college students particularly have considerably contributed priceless insights into the realm of optimization on the mission degree. One such OR pupil was U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Tyler Cotney, one other June 2023 graduate whose thesis handled real-time options of sturdy, energy-aware UAV routing.
Dobrokhodov underscores his appreciation for the contributions from college students throughout numerous disciplines.
“Lively pupil engagement constitutes a cornerstone NPS endeavor. Many NPS college students are available from the fleet. A whole lot of them have already got operational expertise flying UAVs, and so they give us fruitful thought and recommendation on how UAVs must be operated. Partly, the success of this challenge can also be the success of our college students. They arrive to NPS, study from us, however, additionally, we study from them. That is a major a part of what all of us do right here,” mentioned Dobrokhodov.
Though no NPS college students have been in a position to participate within the Arctic testing this September, NPS is already trying to incorporate outcomes from the POTION analysis into a brand new challenge with alternatives for college students and analysis companions alike. One other proposal for NPS, NRL and Platform Aerospace was not too long ago awarded $7.5 million by OECIF for a challenge entitled GUIDER (Steering of UxS: Clever, Vitality-aware Routing) that will probably be a pure extension of the work completed with Vanilla, hopefully extending its applicability to a wider class of autonomous plane.
“We need to combine the vitality financial savings attained throughout transit to and from the operational zone with the plane’s energy-aware efficiency throughout the mission execution section,” Dobrokhodov mentioned of his targets for the GUIDER challenge. “The query is how we are able to prolong the vitality environment friendly flight into typical mission duties, like looking out an enormous space of the south Pacific, for instance. Utilizing what we now have discovered within the Arctic experiment, we are able to now examine carry out a large-scale search, optimally with respect to gas and vitality and apply that information to different plane.”
Use of the Vanilla UAV in analysis performed by the Naval Postgraduate College doesn’t represent endorsement of Platform Aerospace or its services or products by NPS, the Division of the Navy, or the Division of Protection.
