Ongoing Projects
GLNSS Constellation Design Using Frozen Orbits
2026
This project develops an optimization-based GLNSS constellation design using hybrid frozen orbits. Long-term high-fidelity propagation with the LP100K lunar gravity model and DE405 ephemerides is used to build a low-ΔV frozen-orbit candidate set. A multi-objective genetic algorithm optimizes orbit selection, phasing, and satellite count to balance station-keeping cost, constellation size, global continuity, and PDOP performance.
ML-Accelerated Multi-Sensor Multi-Target Data Association
2024
This project develops machine-learning-assisted methods for accelerating multi-sensor, multi-target data association in aerial surveillance scenarios. Heterogeneous measurements are evaluated using likelihood-based cost functions, geometric consistency checks, and association scoring methods, supported by bias-estimation modules and simulation-based validation under dense, ambiguous, and asynchronous sensing conditions.
Completed Projects
Pneumatic Thrust-Control Rocket Demonstrator
4D UAV Traffic Management and Conflict-Free Path Planning
4D UAV Traffic Management and Conflict-Free Path Planning
2025 - 2026
This project focuses on an autonomous VTOL rocket demonstrator using pneumatic thrust control. The platform combines lightweight structural design, IMU-based sensing, avionics control hardware, and real-time pneumatic actuation to support hover, altitude-hold, attitude stabilization, and controlled landing experiments. A physics-based dynamic model provides the basis for control-algorithm development and system validation.
4D UAV Traffic Management and Conflict-Free Path Planning
4D UAV Traffic Management and Conflict-Free Path Planning
4D UAV Traffic Management and Conflict-Free Path Planning
2024 - 2025
This project develops a scalable UTM framework for conflict-free 4D UAV trajectory planning in urban airspace. The method combines an extensible airspace graph, hybrid temporal representation, wind-aware routing, and continuous-time reservations to support real-time path planning for UAVs with different speeds.
FPGA-Based 6-DoF Dynamics Accelerator Design
4D UAV Traffic Management and Conflict-Free Path Planning
Avionics Hardware and Embedded Software Support
2024
A 6-DoF dynamics accelerator was implemented in the programmable logic (PL) region of a system-on-chip (SoC), enabling the parallel execution of 434 aerial vehicle models at a 1 kHz update rate. The resulting high-throughput IP core provided the computational foundation for UAV swarm emulation and Monte Carlo simulations.
Avionics Hardware and Embedded Software Support
UAV Fleet Formation Flight with Net-Capture Terminal Approach
Avionics Hardware and Embedded Software Support
2022 - 2023
This work provided avionics engineering support for a flight-vehicle development project, covering fin actuation, long-range data links, real-time computing hardware, power-control electronics, and RTOS applications. Contributions included motor, motor-driver, and sensor integration within the fin actuation subsystem, together with supporting embedded hardware and software development.
Vehicle-Launched Morphing UAV with Pneumatic Deployment
UAV Fleet Formation Flight with Net-Capture Terminal Approach
UAV Fleet Formation Flight with Net-Capture Terminal Approach
2021 - 2023
A morphing rotary-wing UAV was developed to stabilize itself and transition to controlled flight after pneumatic launch. The system was tested using both a stationary launcher and a moving vehicle traveling at 60 km/h. The project demonstrated compact deployment, rapid stabilization, and vehicle-based launch capability under field-test conditions.
UAV Fleet Formation Flight with Net-Capture Terminal Approach
UAV Fleet Formation Flight with Net-Capture Terminal Approach
UAV Fleet Formation Flight with Net-Capture Terminal Approach
2020 - 2023
A central route planner was developed to coordinate multiple UAVs through an extended star communication topology. The system supported in-flight target updates, airborne and ground-based launches, smooth rendezvous trajectories, and operator-controlled terminal approach timing. The project also included custom radio firmware development with an auto-relay handover capability, strengthening our experience in multi-UAV coordination and formation flight.
Future of All Aviation CNS Technology (FACT)
Surveillance of Areas, Points and Convoys with UAV Swarms
Agile Multi-UAV Fleet Modeling and Collaborative Flight
2020 - 2022
The FACT project explored next-generation Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) technologies for future Air Traffic Management (ATM) and U-space integration. The work focused on performance-based CNS functions, cross-domain technology adaptation, and shared-airspace operation concepts involving conventional aircraft and UAVs. In the final demonstration, a helicopter, an airplane, and two quadcopters executed CNS functions in the same controlled test airspace.
Agile Multi-UAV Fleet Modeling and Collaborative Flight
Surveillance of Areas, Points and Convoys with UAV Swarms
Agile Multi-UAV Fleet Modeling and Collaborative Flight
2018 - 2019
Dynamic models of quadcopters and fixed-wing UAVs were obtained through system identification, supporting improvements in flight-controller performance across the fleet. The quadcopters achieved cruising speeds up to 30 m/s and thrust-to-weight ratios up to 4:1. The project addressed high-agility UAV modeling, GNSS-based precision positioning, GNSS uncertainty analysis, and RTK-assisted navigation.
Surveillance of Areas, Points and Convoys with UAV Swarms
Surveillance of Areas, Points and Convoys with UAV Swarms
RSS-Based RF Source Search and Localization with UAV Fleets
2018 - 2019
Within a 4 km² mission area, the system supported operator-selected surveillance of a region, point, or moving convoy. A centralized planning algorithm assigned missions to airborne fixed-wing UAVs and generated flight routes. At least three of six UAVs remained airborne at all times, providing two-axis gimbaled camera coverage and real-time video transmission. When a UAV reached a critical energy level, it returned to base autonomously while a replacement UAV maintained coverage continuity.
RSS-Based RF Source Search and Localization with UAV Fleets
RSS-Based RF Source Search and Localization with UAV Fleets
RSS-Based RF Source Search and Localization with UAV Fleets
2017 - 2018
This early field-oriented project established the group’s UAV-based RF search and localization capability. Gasoline-powered fixed-wing UAVs with over one hour of endurance were used to locate a simulated victim transmitting intermittently with a VHF push-to-talk radio at an unknown frequency. Equipped with SDR units and omnidirectional antennas, the UAVs measured received signal strength, performed decentralized route planning, and collaboratively estimated the transmitter location, achieving a 40 m deviation in a 25 km² test area.