Vision-based autonomous probe and drogue aerial refueling

This paper presents a simulation setup for probe and drogue autonomous aerial refueling. The overall system consists of tanker and UAV models, the hose model, the atmospheric disturbances, the formation keeping controllers and of a robust artificial vision system. The UAV model is a YF-22 developed at West Virginia University. The vision system is employed to allow the UAV to measure its relative displacement from the drogue with no radio communication between the two aircrafts. Simulation results show the performances of the entire system, with a main focus on the vision system.