Conference PaperMachine Learning Vision and Nonlinear Control Approach for Autonomous Ship Landing of Vertical Flight AircraftLee, B.The paper discusses a machine learning vision and nonlinear control approach for autonomous ship landing of vertical flight aircraft without utilizing GPS signal. The central idea involves automating the Navy helicopter ship landing procedure where the pilot utilizes the ship as the visual reference for long-range tracking, but refers to a standardized visual cue installed on most Navy ships called the ”horizon bar” for the final approach and landing phases. This idea is implemented using a uniquely designed nonlinear controller integrated with machine vision. The vision system utilizes machine learning based object detection for long-range ship tracking, and classical computer vision for object detection and the estimation of aircraft relative position and orientation during the final approach and landing phases. The nonlinear controller operates based on the information estimated by the vision system and has demonstrated robust tracking performance even in the presence of uncertainties. The developed autonomous ship landing system is implemented on a quad-rotor vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with an onboard camera and was demonstrated on a moving deck, which imitates realistic ship deck motions using a Stewart platform and a visual cue equivalent to the horizon bar. Extensive simulations and flight tests are conducted to demonstrate vertical landing safety, tracking capability, and landing accuracy while the deck is in motion.2021-05-011031862877th Annual National Forum of the Vertical Flight Societyhttps://doi.org/1946890National Science Foundation