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7 Control Technologies
Pages 82-91

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From page 82...
... The committee envisions that UAVs will operate in integrated scenarios (Figure 7-1) involving several vehicles with specified missions to be accomplished by the collective; with communication links among vehicles and between vehicles and with remote human-operated control sites (perhaps in the local area, perhaps continents away)
From page 83...
... The subsections briefly describe the committee's findings regarding current capabilities, identify basic research needs, and recommend specific research by the USAF.
From page 84...
... For future UAVs, local control would also include the local loops associated with flow control, drag reduction, and other aerodynamic manipulations (described in Chapter 3~. Multivehicle mission management Theater and ocal command Vehicle and Payload and Propulsion Weapons Vehicle management Inner loops FIGURE 7-2 Functional hierarchy of vehicle control systems.
From page 85...
... design and implementation of high-performance control laws. Areas of interest include basic theory for nonlinear and adaptive control, reusable control law structures and processes capable of full-envelope design, software tools for automated control design and analysis, automated code generation from high-level design tools, and simulation models with sufficient fidelity for affordable tests and verifications.
From page 86...
... ; establishing proper operating modes, component configurations, and resources (e.g., aero configuration, gear, sensors, actuators, fuel, and center of gravity) for each mission segment; monitoring vehicle health; and handling contingencies (e.g., changes in onboard status, mission parameters, and environmental conditions)
From page 87...
... and supporting the development of specific capabilities that will make current design tools and planning aids much more powerful. Real-time path planning and optimization should be a core competency of organizations that design and manufacture controls that apply to the mission management layer of the UAV control hierarchy.
From page 88...
... shows a traditional design sequence involving tight iterations of testing and redesign. Like any well designed, highgain feedback loop, these iterations allow the modeling, design, and build steps of the sequence to be relatively imprecise because the testing and evaluation step with real-world objects will provide corrections.
From page 89...
... This is a major challenge to achieve fully, but there are many incremental gains along the way that will help to avoid major failures or disasters and to ensure the acceptance of the real paradigm shift needed. Research issues include (1)
From page 90...
... A single sensor can provide a dynamic range of 84 dB. With an array of sensors, each covering a different range, the total dynamic range can be extended for a wide spectrum of applications.
From page 91...
... is too low for use in UAVs. In addition, thin-film processing technology requires further development to make thin piezoelectric actuators a practical alternative.


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