Incorporating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) into a Graduate Systems Engineering Curriculum

This paper reveals a modern approach to incorporating aircraft interdisciplinary design into a collegiate systems engineering curriculum. Many schools provide a means for students to get practical experience, but not all encompass a complete graduate curriculum that requires a multi-disciplinary approach to learning systems engineering. Based on the success of several undergraduate "Design-BuildFly" Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) courses, the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at WrightPatterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Ohio began a UAV program for students in the Graduate Systems Engineering (GSE) program. The Air Force approved this relatively new method of teaching for the graduate degree level and initially funded it under the Education and Training Technology Applications Program (ETTAP) of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). In an effort to primarily provide better, more educated engineering officers into the U.S. Air Force and other international commands, this new program established an applied systems engineering framework for military students around the world. The new approach entails up to four phases each year: (1) Winter quarter introductory systems engineering classroom instruction, culminating in a paper project for conceptual design of the annual UAV project. During this phase, problem definition, requirements, value systems design and selection of alternatives are completed. (2) Spring quarter UAV pilot training using electric trainer aircraft and simulation software integrated with actual flight radios. Preliminary design activities continue outside the classroom. (3) Summer quarter UAV design coursework, to include the detailed design, test planning, flight test, statistical analysis, and reporting. (4) Finally, all AFIT graduate systems engineering students complete a 12-hour thesis as part of their * Assistant Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 1 This paper is declared a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States graduation requirements. Students may choose to continue the UAV track in their design thesis project. The initial student project, in winter through summer of 2000, included multi-mission cargo drop and nonreal time reconnaissance missions. The outstanding teamwork demonstrated and mission accomplishments delivered in a limited 7-week aircraft availability schedule was testament of the motivation generated by our "Fly Your Design" philosophy. The 2001 project added requirements of a modular 3"x4"x8" 5-lb (~2.3kg) payload and realtime reconnaissance. While all the objectives were not met during the limited flight test opportunities available, a GPS-integrated navigation system was successfully integrated with a real-time video downlink. The first flying UAV thesis design project is underway for the upcoming 2002 year. Educational and mission outcomes are presented. BACKGROUND The U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology's GSE program is an eighteen-month, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) -accredited, resident program in the Aeronautical and Astronautics Department, leading to a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering. The GSE program is built upon the pillars of mathematics, Figure 1. Start Your Engines! AIAA's 1st Technical Conference and Workshop on Unmanned Aerospace Vehicles, S 20-23 May 2002, Portsmouth, Virginia AIAA 2002-3486 This material is declared a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. 2 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics systems process and design, engineering depth, and a capstone group design study culminating in a written thesis with an oral defense. AFIT students are generally active duty U.S. Air Force personnel, but frequently represent other services and those from countries such as Australia, Canada, South Korea, and Turkey. PROJECT OVERVIEW In the Fall of 1999, an AFIT proposal to the AETC was approved to initiate the AFIT Systems Engineering Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ASEUAV) program to augment the school's systems engineering curriculum. ASEUAV was funded under AETC's ETTAP in an effort to promote hands-on learning in the classroom environment. The first course began with six masters students, four U.S officers and two Australian officers. These pioneers are seen in Figure 2. This team, directed and led by the authors respectively, implemented the concept of integrating hands-on work into their standard theoretical course curriculum. Figure 2. The ASEUAV Pioneers Curriculum During their second (winter) quarter, GSE students, pursuing a systems engineering masters degree, are introduced to the systems design process in an introductory course entitled Systems Analysis for Design. During this time, the students initiated the ASEUAV project by conducting a concept exploration of a small multi-mission UAV involving the use of commercially available radio-control (RC) model aircraft. This phase included problem definition, analysis of requirements, value system design, selection of alternatives, and the implementation of a pilot training program that continued into the spring quarter. The training, consisting of RC electric flight sorties and computer flight simulations, is an on-going and integral part of the program. The same six students, joined by some new members, continued the systems course sequence in the summer quarter, where they conducted physical design and operations of the aircraft in a capstone course entitled Systems Design Project. Improvements to the program were accomplished the second year. Figure 3 shows the second-year class. Currently, a multi-mission aircraft (MMA) thesis project is underway involving potential UAV applications. Figure 3. The 2nd-year ASEUAV Team Resources The initial project was funded for US $6,000 from AETC with the addition of about $4000 from mostly internal department funds. Most model aircraft supplies, to include Tower Trainer 60 aircraft, radios, engines and associated accessories, were purchased from Tower Hobbies at www.towerhobbies.com. Further finance details are presented in the "Cost and Budget" section under "Mission Outcome." Participation The project has the following participants (1) Students who perform the systems engineering and design, (2) Faculty members who oversee the project and guide students, (3) a primary RC modeling and course development consultant (author and previous student), (4) Laboratory technicians who assist in operation and maintenance of the aircraft, (5) HQ AETC, the financial sponsor and (6) HQ Aeronautical Systems Command (ASC) who serves as User/Project Evaluator. Figure 4. Student Aircraft Modifications Safety and Risk Aircraft crashes are to be expected in any RC aircraft program, especially with amateur and student pilots. Remaining "crash free" is not a requirement for the ASEUAV program success. Crashes are a part of the learning process (Fig. 4). However, experienced RC