Yaw control of maneuvering tailless aircraft using induced drag – a control allocation method based on aerodynamic mode shapes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Shearwood ◽  
Mostafa R. Nabawy ◽  
William J. Crowther ◽  
Clyde Warsop
Keyword(s):  
Mode Shapes ◽  
Control Allocation ◽  
Yaw Control ◽  
Induced Drag ◽  
Allocation Method ◽  
Tailless Aircraft

scholarly journals A Novel Control Allocation Method for Yaw Control of Tailless Aircraft

Aerospace ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Shearwood ◽  
Mostafa R. A. Nabawy ◽  
William J. Crowther ◽  
Clyde Warsop
Keyword(s):  
Control Allocation ◽  
Rolling Moment ◽  
Aerodynamic Efficiency ◽  
Yaw Control ◽  
Induced Drag ◽  
Minimum Drag ◽  
Allocation Method ◽  
Control Authority ◽  
And Control ◽  
Tailless Aircraft

Tailless aircraft without vertical stabilisers typically use drag effectors in the form of spoilers or split flaps to generate control moments in yaw. This paper introduces a novel control allocation method by which full three-axis control authority can be achieved by the use of conventional lift effectors only, which reduces system complexity and control deflection required to achieve a given yawing moment. The proposed method is based on synthesis of control allocation modes that generate asymmetric profile and lift induced drag whilst maintaining the lift, pitching moment and rolling moment at the trim state. The method uses low order models for aerodynamic behaviour characterisation based on thin aerofoil theory, lifting surface methodology and ESDU datasheets and is applied to trapezoidal wings of varying sweep and taper. Control allocation modes are derived using the zero-sets of surrogate models for the characterised aerodynamic behaviours. Results are presented in the form of control allocations for a range of trimmed sideslip angles up to 10 degrees optimised for either maximum aerodynamic efficiency (minimum drag for a specific yawing moment) or minimum aggregate control deflection (as a surrogate observability metric). Outcomes for the two optimisation objectives are correlated in that minimum deflection solutions are always consistent with efficient ones. A configuration with conventional drag effector is used as a reference baseline. It is shown that, through appropriate allocation of lift based control effectors, a given yawing moment can be produced with up to a factor of eight less aggregate control deflection and up to 30% less overall drag compared to use of a conventional drag effector.

A Control Allocation Method to Reduce Roll-Yaw coupling on Tailless Aircraft

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Shearwood ◽  
Mostafa R. Nabawy ◽  
William Crowther ◽  
Clyde Warsop
Keyword(s):  
Control Allocation ◽  
Allocation Method ◽  
Tailless Aircraft

scholarly journals A control allocation method based on equivalent virtual control surfaces

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 1256-1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi Jingping ◽  
Zhang Weiguo ◽  
Li Suilao
Keyword(s):  
Control Allocation ◽  
Virtual Control ◽  
Allocation Method ◽  
Control Surfaces

scholarly journals Control and flight test of a tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 172988141667814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Chen ◽  
Jiyang Zhang ◽  
Daibing Zhang ◽  
Lincheng Shen
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Cross Coupling ◽  
Flight Test ◽  
Control Allocation ◽  
Tilt Rotor ◽  
Satisfactory Performance ◽  
Allocation Method ◽  
Aerial Vehicle ◽  
The Cost

Tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles have attracted increasing attention due to their ability to perform vertical take-off and landing and their high-speed cruising abilities, thereby presenting broad application prospects. Considering portability and applications in tasks characterized by constrained or small scope areas, this article presents a compact tricopter configuration tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle with full modes of flight from the rotor mode to the fixed-wing mode and vice versa. The unique multiple modes make the tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle a multi-input multi-output, non-affine, multi-channel cross coupling, and nonlinear system. Considering these characteristics, a control allocation method is designed to make the controller adaptive to the full modes of flight. To reduce the cost, the accurate dynamic model of the tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle is not obtained, so a full-mode flight strategy is designed in view of this situation. An autonomous flight test was conducted, and the results indicate the satisfactory performance of the control allocation method and flight strategy.

Direct Yaw-Moment Control through Optimal Control Allocation Method for Light Vehicle

2012 ◽  
Vol 246-247 ◽  
pp. 847-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Zhu ◽  
Li Tong Guo ◽  
Jian Zhao ◽  
Fang Gao ◽  
Zhen Pan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Control ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Control Allocation ◽  
Sideslip Angle ◽  
Pid Algorithm ◽  
Direct Yaw Moment Control ◽  
Allocation Method ◽  
Yaw Moment Control ◽  
Moment Control ◽  
Yaw Moment

This paper presents a Direct Yaw-moment Control (DYC) strategy to prevent light vehicles from entering the unsteady state and improve the handling stability. A novelty of this work is the ability to achieve superior performance through the lower workload of the actuators by using the optimal control allocation method to distribute the active yaw moment. In the main-loop, the DYC controller is designed based on the classical PID algorithm with the yaw rate and sideslip angle feedback. Simulation tests are carried out on the conditions of sine steering and single lane change steering. Results indicate that the working potential of each actuator can be fully utilized and a significant improvement in handling stability can be achieved from the DYC system.

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