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.

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.

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.

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.

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.