Engineering Synthesis of an Autonomous Airship: Design, Modelling and Trajectory Planning

This thesis presents a systematic and integrated approach to the design, flight dynamics, and trajectory planning of autonomous airships. The key contributions of this thesis include development of a sizing methodology for small airships with emphasis on the optimization of the size and location of the fins to minimize the directional instability. The results of fin optimization for an airship are then experimentally validated. Revisions are proposed on the incorporation of a semi-empirical aerodynamic estimation technique in the modeling of airship dynamics. A control architecture for autonomous trajectory tracking of an indoor airship is also presented in this thesis.