Design and flight-testing of non-linear formation control laws

Abstract This paper presents the results of a research effort focused on the modeling, identification, control design, simulation, and flight-testing of YF-22 research aircraft models in closed-loop formation. These models were designed, manufactured, and instrumented at West Virginia University (WVU). The first phase of flight tests was performed with the goal of exciting all the aircraft dynamic modes. The recorded flight data were then used for a parameter identification study. The output of this study was a mathematical model of the WVU YF-22 aircraft, which was then used for the design of the formation control laws. The design of the formation control laws is based on an inner/outer loop design with the objective of controlling the forward, lateral, and vertical distances between two aircraft in the formation. The design for the outer loop scheme was based on feedback linearization while a root locus-based approach was used for the design of the inner loop scheme. The paper presents experimental results validating the performance of the formation control laws using a ‘virtual leader’ configuration.

[1]  Eugene Lavretsky,et al.  F/A-18 AUTONOMOUS FORMATION FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN , 2002 .

[2]  Rajeeva Kumar,et al.  Adaptive control of UAVs in close-coupled formation flight , 2000, Proceedings of the 2000 American Control Conference. ACC (IEEE Cat. No.00CH36334).

[3]  Srdjan S. Stankovic,et al.  Decentralized overlapping control of a platoon of vehicles , 2000, IEEE Trans. Control. Syst. Technol..

[4]  Frank L. Lewis,et al.  Aircraft Control and Simulation , 1992 .

[5]  Dimitri Jeltsema,et al.  Proceedings Of The 2000 American Control Conference , 2000, Proceedings of the 2000 American Control Conference. ACC (IEEE Cat. No.00CH36334).

[6]  Lennart Ljung,et al.  System Identification: Theory for the User , 1987 .

[7]  Randal Brumbaugh,et al.  An aircraft model for the AIAA Controls Design Challenge , 1991 .

[8]  Mario Innocenti,et al.  Formation flight control - A behavioral approach , 2001 .

[9]  Marcello R. Napolitano,et al.  Design of Formation Control Laws for Manoeuvred Flight , 2004 .

[10]  Alberto Isidori,et al.  Nonlinear control systems: an introduction (2nd ed.) , 1989 .

[11]  Andrew J. Chipperfield,et al.  Stabilized MPC formulations for robust reconfigurable flight control , 2005 .

[12]  D. R. Maguire.  Enemy Jet History , 1948 .

[13]  Sai-Ming Li,et al.  Formation flight control design in the presence of unknown leader commands , 2002, Proceedings of the 2002 American Control Conference (IEEE Cat. No.CH37301).

[14]  John D'Azzo,et al.  Tight Formation Flight Control , 2001 .

[15]  M. James.  Complex Systems: Non-linear control systems , 2000 .

[16]  R. E. Maine,et al.  Identification of dynamic systems, theory and formulation , 1985 .

[17]  Yu Gu,et al.  NLDI guidance control laws for close formation flight , 2005, Proceedings of the 2005, American Control Conference, 2005..

[18]  Marcello R. Napolitano.  Development of Formation Flight Control Algorithms Using 3 YF-22 Flying Models , 2005 .

[19]  Sai-Ming Li,et al.  Semi-globally stable formation flight control design in three dimensions , 2001, Proceedings of the 40th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (Cat. No.01CH37228).

[20]  A. Booth.  Non-Linear Control Systems , 1962, Nature.

[21]  Bernard Etkin,et al.  Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight , 1972 .

[22]  Thomas F. Coleman,et al.  Optimization Toolbox User's Guide , 1998 .

[23]  Erfu Yang,et al.  Dual-controller approach to three-dimensional autonomous formation control , 2004 .

[24]  Ching-Fang Lin,et al.  Advanced Control Systems Design , 1993 .

[25]  Mark R. Anderson,et al.  FORMATION FLIGHT AS A COOPERATIVE GAME , 1998 .

[26]  Giovanni Mengali,et al.  Dynamics and control of different aircraft formation structures , 2004 .

[27]  Mario Innocenti,et al.  Autonomous formation flight , 2000 .

[28]  Marc Rauw,et al.  FDC 1.2 - A Simulink Toolbox for Flight Dynamics and Control Analysis , 2001 .

[29]  Robert Babuska,et al.  Design of a gain-scheduling mechanism for flight control laws by fuzzy clustering , 2006 .

[30]  Marvel P. Miller,et al.  The experimental determination of the moments of inertia of airplanes , 1933 .

[31]  Robert F. Stengel,et al.  Optimal Control and Estimation , 1994 .

[32]  Marcello R. Napolitano,et al.  Design and Flight Testing Evaluation of Formation Control Laws , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology.