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Destination Tomorrow - DT6 - SUAV Lab

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Subido el 28 de mayo de 2007 por EducaMadrid

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NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment showcasing NASA's small unmanned aerial vehicle program and its applications in fighting forest fires, performing military operations, and saving tax dollars.

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Unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, may look like typical toy airplanes, but this technology 00:00:00
should not be taken for granted. UAVs are being used for a variety of different tasks, 00:00:12
including law enforcement, search and rescue, and specific military operations. Currently, 00:00:17
researchers in the Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Laboratory, or SWAV Lab, at NASA Langley are 00:00:23
developing unique UAVs to perform in high-risk situations that may be too dangerous or costly 00:00:29
for humans. I spoke with Mike Logan at NASA's Langley Research Center to find out more. 00:00:34
Primarily what we're trying to do is solve problems for people. They will come to us 00:00:39
with a particular problem, and we try and design and develop a small airplane to help 00:00:43
solve that problem. In some cases, we may use brand new technology that we're developing 00:00:47
here at NASA to incorporate in these small airplanes that help us to solve those problems. 00:00:52
So they can come to us where they wouldn't be able to go anywhere else and get those 00:00:58
problems solved. So what kind of configurations do UAVs come in? Well, as you can imagine, 00:01:01
different problems require different solutions. For example, we had a group come to us and 00:01:07
wanted a backpack observation vehicle where it could fit into a backpack. They could take 00:01:14
it out, unfold it, and toss it in the air and fly it. It would radio back video images. 00:01:19
In this case, the wings fold underneath, and this fits into a 15-by-15-by-5-inch box. 00:01:24
Very light, very compact. We also test configurations before we actually make a flying model. This 00:01:30
is a wind tunnel model of a small single-seat general aviation aircraft that we call the 00:01:36
channel bug. It has these unique configurations called channel wings, and it lets this vehicle 00:01:41
take off and land in a 50-foot runway. And of course, if you want it even smaller, then 00:01:47
we have a smaller vehicle that would be capable of flying into a building. And how is one 00:01:51
of these created? What's the process that goes into developing a UAV? Well, the first 00:01:55
thing we do is we try and analyze the problem, and we use a lot of computer-aided technologies 00:02:00
to help us with that. Once we get a design that we're happy with, then many times, for 00:02:04
example, this is a mock-up of that same configuration. It was done using a process called stereolithography, 00:02:09
where the computer divides up this model into little slices. It traces each slice onto 00:02:17
a vat of photoreactive resin and hardens it. It builds it slice by slice, and then it comes 00:02:25
out as a solid piece. So we can take this mock-up to make sure that it's going to be 00:02:30
the right size and shape that we want, and then we can turn it into a flying vehicle 00:02:35
by using those same CAD files, milling a mold to make the little skins for this vehicle, 00:02:39
and turn it into a real airplane, similar to what you see here. So what are some of 00:02:45
the advantages that a UAV has over a regular piloted aircraft? Well, there's actually a 00:02:49
number of advantages that UAVs have over piloted airplanes. One of which is the ability to 00:02:54
fly lower, longer, and into more hazardous airspace than any pilot would dare. Much like 00:02:59
robots are used to handle explosives in many police or SWAT situations, the UAV can be 00:03:05
placed in high-threat situations, perform exceptionally, and complete its mission with 00:03:10
little or no risk to human operators. With advances in audio and video electronics, real-time 00:03:15
television images are possible to help guide a pilot around dangerous situations or gather 00:03:22
valuable intelligence. One of the problems we were presented with was a problem of trying 00:03:27
to look at what's inside of maybe a partially damaged building. For example, in the case 00:03:32
of an earthquake, you really don't want to risk a whole team of people going into that 00:03:36
building, but you'd like to know if there's someone inside that you need to go rescue. 00:03:40
So when presented with this challenge, we worked up a little prototype. That's what 00:03:45
you see here. This is a little vehicle that would carry a camera. It takes off vertically. 00:03:48
This is what's called a VTOL, or vertical takeoff and landing. It takes off vertically. 00:03:54
Wings pitch forward for forward flight, but then when it needs to hover, it can stop and 00:03:58
hover. It can turn by moving the wings differentially. It can be flown by remote control by using 00:04:03
a display that actually shows the picture of the camera in the nose. So you fly it remotely 00:04:10
from the camera. All without risking the pilot or anyone remote controlling the vehicle. 00:04:15
Correct. Another problem that we're looking at is trying to use these small unmanned air 00:04:22
vehicles to detect forest fires. That's clearly a big problem. Finding and fighting forest 00:04:25
fires now is very, very expensive. The average cost of fighting forest fires in the United 00:04:30
States is over $800 million a year. One reason that fighting forest fires is so costly is 00:04:36
that by the time many fires are detected, they are already unmanageable. Although 98% 00:04:42
of all forest fires are caught and extinguished quickly, it's the 2% that turn into wildfires 00:04:48
costing taxpayers millions. This is where the idea for the UAV comes in. The plan is 00:04:53
to place hundreds of these low-cost UAVs on current or abandoned forest fire lookout 00:05:00
stations around the country. The vehicle would remotely take off, land, and recharge autonomously 00:05:05
up to six times a day from the lookout tower. It would travel over a section of the forest 00:05:12
and use onboard sensors and cameras to detect smoke. If smoke is detected, it would send 00:05:17
out a warning message to the Forest Service with the exact GPS coordinates pinpointing 00:05:22
the fire. This would enable firefighters to respond much faster, potentially reducing 00:05:27
firefighting costs dramatically. So Mike, what does the future hold for UAVs? Well, 00:05:32
we're looking at a whole range of activities and things that these small airplanes can 00:05:37
actually do beyond just saving money, but defending our country, saving lives, solving 00:05:42
problems. That's what the Swab Lab is all about. 00:05:47
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Idioma/s:
en
Niveles educativos:
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Autor/es:
NASA LaRC Office of Education
Subido por:
EducaMadrid
Licencia:
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
Visualizaciones:
499
Fecha:
28 de mayo de 2007 - 17:04
Visibilidad:
Público
Enlace Relacionado:
NASAs center for distance learning
Duración:
05′ 50″
Relación de aspecto:
4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
Resolución:
480x360 píxeles
Tamaño:
33.93 MBytes

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