Unmanned aircraft can move through 3-D space with how many degrees of freedom?

Unmanned aircraft can move through 3-D space with how many degrees of freedom?

• A. Five
• B. Six
• C. Four
• D. Three

Answer: (B)

An unmanned aircraft’s movement in three-dimensional space requires describing both its position and its orientation. That’s six degrees of freedom: three translations (x, y, z) and three rotations (roll, pitch, yaw). The translations set where the aircraft is in space—forward/back, left/right, and up/down. The rotations set which way the aircraft is facing—tilt around the long axis (roll), lift/tilt of the nose up or down (pitch), and turning the nose left or right (yaw). To fully specify the aircraft’s pose, you need all six parameters, which is why six is the correct answer. The other options would leave out either a translation direction or a rotation axis, so they don’t fully describe how the aircraft moves through space.

An unmanned aircraft’s movement in three-dimensional space requires describing both its position and its orientation. That’s six degrees of freedom: three translations (x, y, z) and three rotations (roll, pitch, yaw). The translations set where the aircraft is in space—forward/back, left/right, and up/down. The rotations set which way the aircraft is facing—tilt around the long axis (roll), lift/tilt of the nose up or down (pitch), and turning the nose left or right (yaw). To fully specify the aircraft’s pose, you need all six parameters, which is why six is the correct answer. The other options would leave out either a translation direction or a rotation axis, so they don’t fully describe how the aircraft moves through space.