Autonomous net recovery of fixed- wing UAV with single-frequency carrier-phase differential GNSS

Abstract

Launch and recovery phases pose significant challenges to the operation of UAVs, in particular, for fixed-wing UAVs operating from smaller ships or other geographically or operationally constrained sites without a proper runway. Although UAV missions can often be operated autonomously under pilot supervision via telemetry, the launch and recovery phases often require piloting by using manual remote control (RC) and the pilot’s visual feedback. Availability of reliable automatic recovery functionality with predictable performance is an important step towards increased autonomy that could potentially lead to reduced operating costs (no need for a skilled RC pilot) and improved safety records and thereby enable increased use of UAVs.