Feedback control laws for highly maneuverable aircraft

The results of a study of the application of H infinity and mu synthesis techniques to the design of feedback control laws for the longitudinal dynamics of the High Angle of Attack Research Vehicle (HARV) are presented. The objective of this study is to develop methods for the design of feedback control laws which cause the closed loop longitudinal dynamics of the HARV to meet handling quality specifications over the entire flight envelope. Control law designs are based on models of the HARV linearized at various flight conditions. The control laws are evaluated by both linear and nonlinear simulations of typical maneuvers. The fixed gain control laws resulting from both the H infinity and mu synthesis techniques result in excellent performance even when the aircraft performs maneuvers in which the system states vary significantly from their equilibrium design values. Both the H infinity and mu synthesis control laws result in performance which compares favorably with an existing baseline longitudinal control law

Nonlinear MIMO Adaptive Control for Longitudinal Aerodynamics Forces and Moments of Hypersonic Aircraft Vehicle Model

Aircraft vehicle has complex nonlinear functions which affected in design the control issues. In this paper, introduce and design accurate control of longitudinal dynamic and pitch moment. Longitudinal dynamics equations have complex parameters and this paper maintains control methods as using feedback linearization method. This method is separating longitudinal dynamics equations which causes directly to the flight path angle and aircraft speed with certain approximations of drag, lift and moment functions. Therefore, MIMO adaptive control approach is used instead of feedback linearization with first approximations of drag, lift and moments functions to achieve reasonable results of aircraft dynamics control. MIMO adaptive control technique is presented combined direct and indirect adaptive control methods because the uncertainties variables of longitudinal equations. This paper displays control design for thrust and elevator deflection as inputs of aircraft dynamic with flight path angle and aircraft speed as outputs of the system. The simulations results of feedback linearization and MIMO adaptive control is illustrated in this paper and achieved the tracking of aircraft speed and flight path angles to desired aircraft speed and desired flight path angle.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/1645/thumbnail.jp

Robust Nonlinear Adaptive Control for Longitudinal Dynamics of Hypersonic Aircraft Vehicle Model

A hypersonic aircraft vehicle is a highly complex nonlinear system, which includes uncertainties in the dynamics. This paper presents the design of robust nonlinear adaptive control for a hypersonic aircraft vehicle model. The complexity of the dynamic system is considered into the design structure of the control in order to address robustness issues. Design of a robust control system should decouple the longitudinal and lateral dynamics to handle the flight of hypersonic vehicle under certain specific conditions. In this paper, we only consider longitudinal dynamics, which are divided into aircraft speed subsystem and flight-path angle subsystem. A robust control design is implemented to provide asymptotic tracking regulation of aircraft speed and flight-path angle. In addition, it is employed in this study because the algorithm of control design exhibits better robustness properties. Based on the stability analysis, the adaptive control is derived for a Lyapunov function candidate of feedback closed-loop system. Simulation results of control design illustrate robustness and effectiveness.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/1707/thumbnail.jp

Biologically Inspired Feedback Design for Drosophila Flight

We use a biologically motivated model of the Drosophila's flight mechanics and sensor processing to design a feedback control scheme to regulate forward flight. The model used for insect flight is the grand unified fly (GUF) [3] simulation consisting of rigid body kinematics, aerodynamic forces and moments, sensory systems, and a 3D environment model. We seek to design a control algorithm that will convert the sensory signals into proper wing beat commands to regulate forward flight. Modulating the wing beat frequency and mean stroke angle produces changes in the flight envelope. The sensory signals consist of estimates of rotational velocity from the haltere organs and translational velocity estimates from visual elementary motion detectors (EMD's) and matched retinal velocity filters. The controller is designed based on a longitudinal model of the flight dynamics. Feedforward commands are generated based on a desired forward velocity. The dynamics are linearized around this operating point and a feedback controller designed to correct deviations from the operating point. The control algorithm is implemented in the GUF simulator and achieves the desired tracking of the forward reference velocities and exhibits biologically realistic responses

Design of a flight control architecture using a non-convex bundle method

We design a feedback control architecture for longitudinal flight of an aircraft. The multi-level architecture includes the flight control loop to govern the short term dynamics of the aircraft, and the autopilot to control the long term modes. Using H1 performance and robustness criteria, the problem is cast as a non-convex and non-smooth optimization program. We present a non-convex bundle method, prove its convergence, and show that it is apt to solve the longitudinal flight control problem

Longitudinal control effectiveness and entry dynamics of a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle

The classical theory of flight dynamics for airplane longitudinal stability and control analysis was extended to the case of a hypervelocity reentry vehicle. This includes the elements inherent in supersonic and hypersonic flight such as the influence of the Mach number on aerodynamic characteristics, and the effect of the reaction control system and aerodynamic controls on the trim condition through a wide range of speed. Phugoid motion and angle of attack oscillation for typical cases of cruising flight, ballistic entry, and glide entry are investigated. In each case, closed form solutions for the variations in altitude, flight path angle, speed and angle of attack are obtained. The solutions explicitly display the influence of different regions design parameters and trajectory variables on the stability of the motion

A study of helicopter stability and control including blade dynamics

A linearized model of rotorcraft dynamics has been developed through the use of symbolic automatic equation generating techniques. The dynamic model has been formulated in a unique way such that it can be used to analyze a variety of rotor/body coupling problems including a rotor mounted on a flexible shaft with a number of modes as well as free-flight stability and control characteristics. Direct comparison of the time response to longitudinal, lateral and directional control inputs at various trim conditions shows that the linear model yields good to very good correlation with flight test. In particular it is shown that a dynamic inflow model is essential to obtain good time response correlation, especially for the hover trim condition. It also is shown that the main rotor wake interaction with the tail rotor and fixed tail surfaces is a significant contributor to the response at translational flight trim conditions. A relatively simple model for the downwash and sidewash at the tail surfaces based on flat vortex wake theory is shown to produce good agreement. Then, the influence of rotor flap and lag dynamics on automatic control systems feedback gain limitations is investigated with the model. It is shown that the blade dynamics, especially lagging dynamics, can severly limit the useable values of the feedback gain for simple feedback control and that multivariable optimal control theory is a powerful tool to design high gain augmentation control system. The frequency-shaped optimal control design can offer much better flight dynamic characteristics and a stable margin for the feedback system without need to model the lagging dynamics

Fuzzy Modeling and Parallel Distributed Compensation for Aircraft Flight Control from Simulated Flight Data

A method is described that combines fuzzy system identification techniques with Parallel Distributed Compensation (PDC) to develop nonlinear control methods for aircraft using minimal a priori knowledge, as part of NASAs Learn-to-Fly initiative. A fuzzy model was generated with simulated flight data, and consisted of a weighted average of multiple linear time invariant state-space cells having parameters estimated using the equation-error approach and a least-squares estimator. A compensator was designed for each subsystem using Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMI) to guarantee closed-loop stability and performance requirements. This approach is demonstrated using simulated flight data to automatically develop a fuzzy model and design control laws for a simplified longitudinal approximation of the F-16 nonlinear flight dynamics simulation. Results include a comparison of flight data with the estimated fuzzy models and simulations that illustrate the feasibility and utility of the combined fuzzy modeling and control approach

Flight Control Design for a Tailless Aircraft Using Eigenstructure Assignment

We apply eigenstructure assignment to the design of a flight control system for a wind tunnel model of a tailless aircraft. The aircraft, known as the innovative control effectors (ICEs) aircraft, has unconventional control surfaces plus pitch and yaw thrust vectoring. We linearize the aircraft in straight and level flight at an altitude of 15,000 feet and Mach number 0.4. Then, we separately design flight control systems for the longitudinal and lateral dynamics. We use a control allocation scheme with weights so that the lateral pseudoinputs are yaw and roll moment, and the longitudinal pseudoinput is pitching moment. In contrast to previous eigenstructure assignment designs for the ICE aircraft, we consider the phugoid mode, thrust vectoring, and stability margins. We show how to simultaneously stabilize the phugoid mode, satisfy MIL-F-8785C mode specifications, and satisfy MIL-F-9490D phase and gain margin specifications. We also use a cstar command system that is preferable to earlier pitch-rate command systems. Finally, we present simulation results of the combined longitudinal/lateral flight control system using a full 6DOF nonlinear simulation with approximately 20,000 values for the aerodynamic coefficients. Our simulation includes limiters on actuator deflections, deflection rates, and control system integrators