Date of Award

3-23-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Scott Nykl, PhD.

Abstract

This paper describes the design of an EKF to obtain the precise relative position of two aircraft in a refueling maneuver while operating in GPS denied environments. The EKF uses the INS already present in both aircraft as well as the stereo camera system organic to new tanker systems. The aircraft trajectories are generated according to authentic refueling profiles with flight dynamics software and executed in a 3D virtual environment to enable deterministic simulation of the stereo camera system and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the combined system in a refueling scenario. Results show the system can achieve sufficient accuracy utilizing only SMV and INS measurements, though the system is capable of incorporating GPS measurements when available for an additional increase in accuracy.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENG-MS-17-M-036

DTIC Accession Number

AD1054655

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