sUAS for deployment and recovery of an environmental sensor probe

Abstract

This paper describes the solution proposed by Penn Aerial Robotics and GRASP Lab from the University of Pennsylvania at the 2016 NSF Student UAV challenge. The paper proposes a solution for the autonomous deployment and retrieval of mosquito traps in the field. These mosquito traps are used to collect mosquito samples and aid research in dangerous diseases such as yellow fever and dengue fever. Our proposed solution provides a fully autonomous mechanism for completing this mission. The major challenges encountered include detecting and docking with the trap in different outdoor lighting conditions.