Navigation Control of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

Abstract: The thesis covers a new navigation algorithm for UAV to fly through several given GPS coordinates without any human interference. The UAV first gets its current position from GPS receiver via Bluetooth connection with the navigator computer. With this GPS point, it draws an optimal trajectory to next destination. During the flight, the navigator computer issues the information about which direction to turn and how much to turn. This information will be used to steer the airplane servos. The algorithm is programmed in Java LeJOS. It uses built-in Java classes about GPS and Bluetooth. The main computer, where the navigation program runs, is a LEGO Mindstorms NXT and it is used a GPSlim240 from HOLUX as a GPS receiver.