Multi-Camera Triangulation and Augmented Proportional Navigation for UAV Defense

This project will model, simulate, and prototype a guided interceptor vehicle and its supporting tracking network. The system has two parts: a distributed tracking system that detects and follows a target, and a dispatched vehicle launched once defined engagement conditions are met. The simulation will model a short-burn solid-propellant motor and a lightweight airframe suited to 3D printing.

Our priorities are accessibility, accuracy, and addressing real defensive challenges, such as the growing number of unmanned aerial vehicles operating in restricted airspace. The tracking network will consist of low-cost nodes, each equipped with a visual seeker. The flight vehicle will carry its own camera seeker as well, for terminal tracking after handoff from the network. Using the views from multiple nodes, the system will triangulate the target’s position to acquire an accurate lock. The nodes will be connected by Ethernet and synchronized to one another and to a central server, which will run the NTP time server, perform target identification, and compute the lock solution.

For guidance and control, we will implement augmented proportional navigation (APN), which commands acceleration based on the rotation rate of the line of sight to the target and adds an estimate of the target’s acceleration perpendicular to the line of sight, improving performance against maneuvering targets. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller will drive movable fins to stabilize the trajectory and execute the guidance commands. Finally, we will evaluate how a networked, multi-node installation can operate with minimal manual intervention, increasing coverage and redundancy.