United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

James K Adams

Robert L Fox

Qamar A Shams

Christopher L Fox, Legal Representative

Michael J Logan

Melanie L Fox, Legal Representative

Theodore R Kuhn, Iii

Walter C Babel, Iii

John C Ingham

Sean A Laughter

A self-contained avionics sensing and flight control system is provided for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The system includes sensors for sensing flight control parameters and surveillance parameters, and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Flight control parameters and location signals are processed to generate flight control signals. A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is configured to provide a look-up table storing sets of values with each set being associated with a servo mechanism mounted on the UAV and with each value in each set indicating a unique duty cycle for the servo mechanism associated therewith. Each value in each set is further indexed to a bit position indicative of a unique percentage of a maximum duty cycle for the servo mechanism associated therewith. The FPGA is further configured to provide a plurality of pulse width modulation (PWM) generators coupled to the look-up table. Each PWM generator is associated with and adapted to be coupled to one of the servo mechanisms.

Self-contained avionics sensing and flight control system for small unmanned aerial vehicle

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Gloucester, VA, United States of America

James K Adams