College - Author 1

College of Engineering

Department - Author 1

Computer Engineering Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Computer Engineering

Date

6-2019

Primary Advisor

Andrew Danowitz

Abstract/Summary

For my senior project, I was asked to assist an Aerospace Engineering professor with the design of his new glider. He needed to create a flight director-type instrument so that his pilot could get the aircraft’s positional data during flight. This positional data came from a powerful sensor mounted on the fuselage. To interface with the sensor, I created an embedded system comprised of a ESP32 micro-controller communicating with the sensor via UART/RS-232. The micro-controller was mounted on a breadboard and connected to the sensor via jumper wires. The ESP32 featured a Bluetooth chip that allowed for communication using the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol. Using this chip, I was able to pass the sensor data to an iPhone application that would serve as a GUI display. I was also responsible for developing this application, which read the sensor data from the ESP32 and displayed a user interface that was similar to flight directors used in industry. With this app installed, the pilot would be able to mount his/her phone on the dashboard of the glider and see the orientation of the aircraft. A preliminary version of this app was created, but now must be tuned for precision and to fit the exact needs of the pilot. Flight testing will have to be done when the glider is ready so that the pilot can give feedback on the adjustments necessary to the UI.

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