sagitta2.jpg

Together with Airbus Defence and Space and other partners (TU Chemnitz, TU Munich, DLR and Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt), the flight test vehicle SAGITTA was developed and flown. The Chair of Aeronautical Engineering integrated a system for environmental perception to be able to carry out reconnaissance missions with appropriate sensors.

Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) Aircraft

In addition to fixed wing airplanes, VTOL aircrafts are also suitable for investigating environmental perception functions. These offer the decisive advantages of hovering and flying lower in a controlled manner than fixed wing airplanes. In addition to imaging sensors, we also use LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors for depth estimation on these carriers. At the institute, they are used for landing zone reconnaissance or obstacle detection in the CASIMUS project.

Flight Test Site

The Institute of Flight Systems at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich uses a flight test site for fixed wing and VTOL UAVs up to 25 kg in weight to conduct investigations and experiments with its own aircrafts. Thereby systems for environmental perception are tested and sensory data are recorded and underlying methods are evaluated.

Helicopter Simulator

We use the helicopter simulator of the institute together with the Chair of Aircraft Dynamics and Flight Guidance for investigations in the environment of Manned-Unmanned-Teaming (MUM-T) missions. It provides the simulation and execution of such missions in combination with unmanned remote reconnaissance platforms.

Fixed Wing Airplanes

The flight test vehicles include various aeroplanes equipped with different sensors for environmental perception, such as imaging sensors in the visual and long-wave infrared spectrum. They are used in research projects with the background of searching for missing persons, area surveillance or the inspection of infrastructure. The picture on the right shows the UAV platform WILGA of the Chair of Aircraft Dynamics and Flight Guidance, which we equipped with a gimbal sensor system to achieve a platform-independent, automated movement of the sensors.

A320 Simulator

The A320 flight simulator of the Institute is used for the course "Apparatives Praktikum". The simulator, a type FSDT-Type III process trainer certified to perform type ratings, allows system failures and the associated handling of emergency procedures to be practiced realistically.

Simulators and Simulation Environments

Various sensor simulation systems are used at the institute to generate exterior views for sensor operators as well as to develop and evaluate sensor data processing methods for object detection and tracking.

UAV Ground Control Station

The Institute's generic ground control station is used, among other things, to investigate operating and display concepts for mission sensors and perception functions. It is equipped with two multitouch displays and various input devices to control the sensors and to operate the system. The simulator is connected to an integrated simulation environment for the generation of synthetic sensor data. Thereby, various sensor simulation systems are used at the chair for this purpose.

Mobile Ground Control Station

In addition, the institute operates a mobile ground control station which is integrated into a minibus. This is used to control and monitor the experimental systems on board the flight test vehicles. Several computer systems and data links are installed in the mobile ground control station.

Mechanics Workshop

The mechanics workshop of the Chair of Aircraft Dynamics and Flight Guidance supports our activities by manufacturing turned, milled and printed plastic parts for the construction of flying platforms for experimental systems.

octocopter

VTOL aircrafts can also be equipped with gimbal systems to increase the stability and flexibility of the sensors used. We use such a system with imaging sensors, for example, for gesture recognition in the VisCom project.

electronic-workshop

The mechanical and electronic workshops support the research activities of the institute with the manufacturing and operation of its in-house simulators, flight test vehicles and sensor platforms. Soldering work, circuit board assembly and circuit design are performed in the chairs electronics workshop. In particular, the aircraft and sensor platforms used at the institute are assembled or customized in this manner.