Development on Lua of a software module for determining the drop point of uncontrolled cargo from UAV of aircraft type with Ardupilot control system

Andrіi Humennyi, Pavlo Malashta, Serhii Oliynick, Oleksandr Pidlisnyi, Vitalii Aleinikov

Abstract


Cargo delivery is one of the most popular areas of application of aircraft-type UAVs with the Ardupilot control system. Autonomous missions performed by such UAVs are associated with the need to determine the point of discharge of unguided cargo, which significantly affects the accuracy of its delivery. However, Ardupilot is not equipped with a software module for determining the point of discharge of unguided cargo, and such additional software is recommended to be developed in Lua. Known software modules for determining the point of discharge of UAVs, as a rule, perform a cyclic solution of a complex system of differential equations of cargo motion, which requires significant hardware resources. However, for heights up to 400 m relative to the ground surface, it is possible to use simplified analytical expressions of cargo motion with a delivery accuracy of ±5 m to increase the efficiency of the specified software module. Therefore, the object of research is the process of determining the point of discharge of unguided cargo from an aircraft-type UAV using a Lua script. The subject of research is a computer model of the movement of unguided cargo in Lua, on the basis of which the point of discharge is determined. The aim of the work is to develop a software module in Lua to determine the point of dropping an unguided cargo from an aircraft-type UAV with the ArduPilot control system by using simplified equations of motion of the cargo at altitudes up to 400 m. The following results were obtained: a general algorithm for the operation of the software module for determining the point of dropping an unguided cargo was developed, a Lua script was developed to determine the point of dropping from heights up to 40 m, a Lua script was developed to determine the point of dropping from heights from 40 to 400 m relative to the ground surface, a Lua script was provided to determine the point of dropping from heights above 400 m relative to the ground surface, and the user interface of the software module was implemented. Conclusion: a software module was developed in Lua to determine the point of dropping an unguided cargo from an aircraft-type UAV with the Ardupilot control system. A feature of this software is the use of different approaches to determining the point of dropping in the intervals of heights up to 40 m, from 40 to 400 m and more than 400 m relative to the ground surface. This makes this software module more effective at low altitudes.

Keywords


unmanned aerial vehicle; UAV; cargo drop; control system; drop algorithm; software module; drop point

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.32620/aktt.2024.6.01