Lum, ChristopherGrimes, Ryan James2018-07-312018-07-312018-07-312018Grimes_washington_0250O_18547.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/1773/42176Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2018This paper describes a system for stabilizing an orbit of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) around a target. The system utilizes an inner/outer loop controller architecture to achieve a stabilized, coordinated turn orbit about a point. The innovation is that the primary inputs to this controller are obtained from a vision system that computes the slant range to the target based on images streamed from the aircraft making vision the primary sensor modality for achieving a stabilized orbit. Both the vision system for estimating slant range and the associated controller for achieving a stabilized orbit are discussed. Varying levels of simulation including software-in-the-loop (SITL) are presented before discussing flight testing of the custom built UAS.application/pdfen-USnoneanchoringdeniedGPSorbitUASvisualAerospace engineeringAeronautics and astronauticsThesis