Modern digital flight control system design for VTOL aircraft

Methods for and results from the design and evaluation of a digital flight control system (DFCS) for a CH-47B helicopter are presented. The DFCS employed proportional-integral control logic to provide rapid, precise response to automatic or manual guidance commands while following conventional or spiral-descent approach paths. It contained altitude- and velocity-command modes, and it adapted to varying flight conditions through gain scheduling. Extensive use was made of linear systems analysis techniques. The DFCS was designed, using linear-optimal estimation and control theory, and the effects of gain scheduling are assessed by examination of closed-loop eigenvalues and time responses

Analytical and Numerical Solution of a Poisson RBC model

This paper analyses a RBC model in continuous time featuring deterministic incremental development of technology and stochastic fundamental inventions arriving according to a Poisson process. Other than in standard RBC models, shocks are uncorrelated, irregular and rather seldom. In two special cases analytical solutions are presented. In the general case a delay differential equation (DDE) has to be solved. Standard numerical solution methods fail, because the steady state is path dependent. A new solution based on a modified method of steps for DDEs provides not only approximations but also upper and lower bounds for optimal consumption path and steady state. --Business cycle models with poisson shocks,RBC models in continuous time,Delay differential equations

Homogenization of a 1D pursuit law with delay and a counter-example

In this paper, we consider a one dimensional pursuit law with delay which is derived from traffic flow modelling. It takes the form of an infinite system of first order coupled delayed equations. Each equation describes the motion of a driver who interacts with the preceding one, taking into account his reaction time. We derive a macroscopic model, namely a Hamilton-Jacobi equation, by a homogenization process for reaction times that are below an explicit threshold. The key idea is to show, that below this threshold, a strict comparison principle holds for the infinite system. In a second time, for well-chosen dynamics and higher reaction times, we show that there exist some microscopic pursuit laws that do not lead to the previous macroscopic model

An Unsupervised Neural Network for Real-Time Low-Level Control of a Mobile Robot: Noise Resistance, Stability, and Hardware Implementation

We have recently introduced a neural network mobile robot controller (NETMORC). The controller is based on earlier neural network models of biological sensory-motor control. We have shown that NETMORC is able to guide a differential drive mobile robot to an arbitrary stationary or moving target while compensating for noise and other forms of disturbance, such as wheel slippage or changes in the robot's plant. Furthermore, NETMORC is able to adapt in response to long-term changes in the robot's plant, such as a change in the radius of the wheels. In this article we first review the NETMORC architecture, and then we prove that NETMORC is asymptotically stable. After presenting a series of simulations results showing robustness to disturbances, we compare NETMORC performance on a trajectory-following task with the performance of an alternative controller. Finally, we describe preliminary results on the hardware implementation of NETMORC with the mobile robot ROBUTER.Sloan Fellowship (BR-3122), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-92-J-0499