ARCAA operates a number of fully autonomous small unmanned helicopters, referred to as the ARCAA Heli UAS or as the “Hotels”.
The Hotel airframe is based on a modified Vario Gasser RC helicopter platform. The platforms have a 1.8m diameter rotor, a maximum takekoff weight of ~13kg and can operate for up to 45 mins at maximum weight.
The Hotels are capable of autonomous beyond visual range operation. Component-systems include:
- A custom-designed autopilot which uses a real-time deterministic software framework known as Extended State Machine (ESM) to provide dependable guidance and low-level control under high wind conditions;
- Independent system interface board which performs fail safe monitoring and, if necessary, the automated termination of flight;
- UHF (900MHz) modems;
- Scanning laser and stereo vision payloads;
- Separate payload computer;
The ground station comprises a highly portable and ruggedised ground control computer with a customisable touch screen interface, power system, and cellular High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Iridium satellite communications. The ground station computer software utilises the same ESM architecture as used on the flight computer. The implementation of the flight control and ground control software also includes the ability to perform hardware in the loop simulation, enabling testing of many aspects of the system prior to flight, including integration testing with the experiment payloads.
The Hotels can be operated remotely from anywhere in the world and this has been demonstrated as part of the Smart Skies project, with computers located in Palmdale California autonomously issuing guidance commands to the Hotels operating in Australia.
The Hotels are currently being used for research into the development of sensor payloads for autonomous infrastructure inspection tasks and for the phenotyping of agricultural crops. The unique flight profiles of the helicopters have also made them a valuable test platform in experiments exploring different automated airspace management concepts.
