SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING AUTOMATIC NAVIGATION OF AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE IN THE VICINITY OF AN AIRFIELD

Рассмотрены вопросы разработки системы, способной обеспечивать автоматическую навигацию беспилотного летательного аппарата в окрестности аэродрома без использования дополнительных датчиков. Рассмотрен алгоритм решения этой задачи с использованием бортовой монокулярной системы технического зрения, функционирующей в диапазоне 1,55 мкм. Для обеспечения навигации беспилотный летательный аппарат оснащен системой информационного обмена, а в районе точки взлета-посадки в качестве наземных источников (маяков) предложено использовать полупроводниковые лазеры с некогерентным излучением длиной волны 1,55 мкм, которые обеспечивают работу системы в простых метеоусловиях. Путем измерений угла азимута в двух точках траектории движения беспилотного летательного аппарата вычисляются его координаты местоположения относительно взлетно-посадочной полосы, а также угол курса необходимый для выхода в начальную точку глиссады снижения. Ввиду того, что погрешности измерений обусловлены ошибками измерений угла азимута, курса и скорости полета, ошибками измерения временных интервалов в данной работе пренебрегаем. Полученные графики показывают, что погрешности измерения координат беспилотного летательного аппарата минимальны при пролете напротив маяка и резко возрастают при удалении от него, что обусловлено погрешностью измерения азимута и дальности. При этом измерение местоположения беспилотного летательного аппарата необходимо выполнять на минимальном удалении от маяка The article discusses the development of a system capable of providing automatic navigation of an unmanned aerial vehicle in the vicinity of an airfield without the use of additional sensors. We considered an algorithm for solving this problem using an onboard monocular vision system operating in the range of 1.55 microns. To ensure navigation, the unmanned aerial vehicle is equipped with an information exchange system, and in the area of the take-off and landing point, we propose to use semiconductor lasers with incoherent radiation with a wavelength of 1.55 microns, which ensure the operation of the system in simple weather conditions, as ground sources (beacons). By measuring the azimuth angle at two points of the trajectory of the unmanned aerial vehicle, we calculated its location coordinates relative to the runway, as well as the course angle necessary to reach the starting point of the descent glide path. Since measurement errors are caused by errors in measuring the azimuth angle, course and flight speed, we neglected errors in measuring time intervals in this work. The obtained graphs show that the errors in measuring the coordinates of an unmanned aerial vehicle are minimal when flying in front of the lighthouse and increase sharply when moving away from it, which is due to the error in measuring azimuth and range. At the same time, the measurement of the location of the unmanned aerial vehicle must be carried out at a minimum distance from the lighthouse

Optimization of performance of PV panels and selection of best site for solar park in Pakistan

To incorporate solar energy efficiently into a country, it is needed to know the optimal tilt and azimuth angle of the solar collectors' location. Also, to build a solar park, it is necessary to know the most suitable and high-energy generating place inside a country, thus saving time and money. This study analyzed collector geometry for Karachi in particular and Pakistan in general. Karachi has the potential of 339.36 kW-hr/m2/annum energy at an annually optimal fixed tilt of 26°. In case collector geometry had to be changed in Karachi, a range of 40° azimuth angle and 20° tilt angle from its maximum value is available. The power produced in this case would only have a difference of 1%. Optimal yearly and monthly tilt of most of the locations of Pakistan (300+) were calculated. Through them, it was revealed that the Optimal Tilt of Pakistan follows the value of latitude closely. Generally, changing the tilt angle monthly is recommended for areas that produce more energy, while fixed annual tilt could be suitable for low energy-producing regions. Effects of temperature were also incorporated while finding the energy produced by the photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Analysis of Hydraulic Fracture Morphology and Propagation under Different Perforation Azimuth Angles

Perforation azimuth has an important influence on the nucleation, propagation path and morphology of hydraulic fractures. In this paper, the true triaxial hydraulic fracturing simulation experimental system is used to analyze the hydraulic fracture morphology and propagation path under different perforation azimuth angles. With the increase of the azimuth angle of perforation, the stable fracture propagation pressure of the fracturing sample also increases. When the azimuth angle of perforation is 0°, the propagation pressure is about 18 MPa, and when the azimuth angle of perforation is 90°, the propagation pressure is about 26.5 MPa, increasing by nearly 47.22%.

A novel Technique for Improving the Angular Accuracy of Doppler VOR Receivers

Doppler VOR (D-VOR) transmitters are used as navigation aids in aviation. They transmit an omnidirectional phase reference in an amplitude-modulated (AM) sideband and directional phase information on a frequency-modulated (FM) subcarrier. In an airborne D-VOR navigation receiver, a directional information (azimuth angle) related to the position of the aircraft and the location of the transmitter can be derived from the difference of these two phase signals. In this work, the accuracy of AM and FM phase signals is firstly investigated analytically and afterwards verified by measurements. It will be shown that in established procedures, phase inaccuracy is dominated by the AM signal, since the FM signal is about 21 dB less noisy. Subsequently, a novel method is presented that improves the accuracy of the azimuth angle by orders of magnitude in case of D-VOR transmitters. This new method inherently reduces noise of the AM phase and thus yields a significant increase in accuracy. As a result, the remaining FM phase uncertainty becomes dominant for the total uncertainty of the bearing indication. Finally, the application of the new method to real measured signals confirms the theoretical expectations.

Aeroelastic and Aerodynamic Tests of Wind Turbine with Various Polygonal Towers

Traditionally, circular cross-section towers have been used as supporting systems of wind turbines, but weaknesses have become apparent with recent upsizing of wind turbines. Thus, polygonal cross-section towers have been proposed and used in Europe. In this study, the effects of polygonal cross-sections on the aeroelastic and aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbines were examined through a series of wind tunnel tests. Aeroelastic tests showed that a square cross-section tower showed instability vibrations, and polygonal cross-section towers showed limited vibrations for tower-only cases. However, for wind turbines with various polygonal cross-section towers, no instability vibrations were observed, and displacements increased proportionally to the square of mean wind speed. Furthermore, pressure measurements showed that local force coefficients changed largely depending on wind direction and azimuth angle. Local drag force coefficients decreased with increasing number of tower sides, approaching those of the tower-only case, and local lift force coefficients showed larger absolute values than those of the tower-only case. The maximum mean and fluctuating drag force and the maximum fluctuating lift coefficients at each height decreased with increasing number of tower sides.

Aerodynamic Characteristics of Radar Antenna in Stationary and Azimuthal Rotational Motion

To study the effects of aerodynamic loads on the aerodynamic characteristics of stationary and azimuthally rotating antennas, wind tunnel force tests are conducted using solid and porous plate antennas. The variation of aerodynamic coefficient with azimuth angle is obtained when the antenna is stationary and azimuthal rotation, and the results are compared with those from numerical simulations. The variation in the aerodynamic coefficients with respect to the azimuth angle is found to be sinusoidal for both the solid and porous plate antennas rotating in azimuth. Compared with the antenna stationary, quantitative analysis indicates that the rotational motion increases the maximum value and root mean square of the aerodynamic coefficient. For solid plate antenna, |Cx|_max, |Cmy|_max, and |Cmz|_max increase by 41.6%, 15.0%, and 47.3%, respectively; Cx_rms, Cmy_rms, and Cmz_rms increase by 19.0%, 20.0%, and 19.1%, respectively. For porous plate antenna, |Cx|_max, |Cmy|_max, and |Cmz|_max increase by 30.6%, 71.4%, and 40.9%, respectively; Cx_rms, Cmy_rms, and Cmz_rms increase by 22.9%, 50%, and 20%, respectively. The wind tunnel tests verify the feasibility of using numerical simulations to obtain the flow field results. By analyzing the surface pressure coefficient and vortex core track distribution, the effects of azimuthal rotation on the aerodynamic characteristics of the antenna are further clarified.

Optimization of Solar Panel Tilt and Azimuth Angle for Maximum Solar Irradiation and Minimum Loss for Rural Electrification

The earth receives solar power at a rate of 120 petawatts, meaning that the energy obtained from the sun in a single day could satisfy the world’s energy needs for almost twenty years. Africa is often considered and referred as the "Sun continent" or the continent where the Sun's influence is the greatest, yet over 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity. This inexhaustible, untapped, abundant, and environmentally friendly solar energy potential encouraged solar power generation technologies to flourish faster than any other renewable energy technology most especially in Africa. The amount of electricity generated by a fixed-tilt solar PV system depends on the orientation of the PV panel (tilt and azimuth angle) relative to the sun. The panel of a solar PV system collect solar radiation more efficiently when the sun's rays are perpendicular to the panel: when the sun hits it directly at a 90o degree angle; but the sun is a moving target. Not only does it move across the sky throughout the day, but it is higher in the sky in the dry season (winter) from October to March and lower in the sky in the wet season (summer) from April to September. Since the climate is usually characterized into two seasons, the system optimization presented in this paper was carried out based on: yearly irradiation yield (fixed tilted plane) to guarantee optimum solar irradiation throughout the year, with 0.0% loss with respect to optimum. The system eliminates the challenges associated with changing the solar panel orientation every season, or using the expensive and inefficient sun tracker in tracking sun energy; while guaranteeing higher energy production, better system performance, lower system losses, and low operational cost. The system optimization was carried out with the “PVsyst simulation software” made for PV system designers and researchers to predict the performance of different solar system configurations, evaluate the results, and identify the best approach for maximum energy production. This paper investigated the optimal tilt and azimuth angle for solar panel orientation techniques for a typical rural community in Nigeria (Ndikelionwu) to advance rural electrification. After series of simulation and optimization processes; the best yearly irradiation yield was recorded when the solar panel is at 40o tilt and 0o Azimuth angle; with 0.0% loss with respect to optimum. Keywords: Optimization, PVsyst, Solar Irradiation, Tilt and Azimuth Angle, Global on Collector Plane, Fixed Tilted Plane, Rural Electrification, Solar Panel Orientation And Yearly Irradiation Yield.

The Effect of Azimuth and Tilt Angle Changes on the Energy Balance of Photovoltaic System Installed in the Southern Slovakia Region

Energy balance of the photovoltaic system is influenced by many factors. In this article the effect of tilt and azimuth angle changes of the photovoltaic system energy production is analyzed. These parameters have significant impact on the amount of solar radiation which hits on the photovoltaic panel surface and therefore also on the energy absorbed by the module surface. The main aim of research was identification of the optimal position of photovoltaic system installation in the southern Slovakia regions. The experimental apparatus had two setups consisting of polycrystalline photovoltaic modules. The first setup was used for identification of the tilt angle changes in the range (0–90°). The second one was focused on the detection of the azimuth angle effect to the energy production. The measurement results were statistically processed and mathematically analyzed. Obtained dependencies are presented as two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphical relations. Regression equations characterize time relations between the tilt or azimuth angle and the energy produced by the photovoltaic system in Southern Slovakia. Obtained simplified mathematical model was verified by analytical model. Presented models can be used for the dimensioning and optimization of the photovoltaic system energy production.

Change Detection of Building Objects in High-Resolution Single-Sensor and Multi-Sensor Imagery Considering the Sun and Sensor’s Elevation and Azimuth Angles

Building change detection is a critical field for monitoring artificial structures using high-resolution multitemporal images. However, relief displacement depending on the azimuth and elevation angles of the sensor causes numerous false alarms and misdetections of building changes. Therefore, this study proposes an effective object-based building change detection method that considers azimuth and elevation angles of sensors in high-resolution images. To this end, segmentation images were generated using a multiresolution technique from high-resolution images after which object-based building detection was performed. For detecting building candidates, we calculated feature information that could describe building objects, such as rectangular fit, gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) homogeneity, and area. Final building detection was then performed considering the location relationship between building objects and their shadows using the Sun’s azimuth angle. Subsequently, building change detection of final building objects was performed based on three methods considering the relationship of the building object properties between the images. First, only overlaying objects between images were considered to detect changes. Second, the size difference between objects according to the sensor’s elevation angle was considered to detect the building changes. Third, the direction between objects according to the sensor’s azimuth angle was analyzed to identify the building changes. To confirm the effectiveness of the proposed object-based building change detection performance, two building density areas were selected as study sites. Site 1 was constructed using a single sensor of KOMPSAT-3 bitemporal images, whereas Site 2 consisted of multi-sensor images of KOMPSAT-3 and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The results from both sites revealed that considering additional shadow information showed more accurate building detection than using feature information only. Furthermore, the results of the three object-based change detections were compared and analyzed according to the characteristics of the study area and the sensors. Accuracy of the proposed object-based change detection results was achieved over the existing building detection methods.