Advanced Precision Airborne Delivery Systems (APADS) are being developed to autonomously deliver cargo from high altitudes and long standoff distances to precise target areas in all visibility and weather conditions. A number of professional organizations, such as smoke jumpers and special forces, use maneuverable ram-air (parafoil) parachutes. They have developed and trained their personnel in specific canopy guidance and control methods, so that they can land precisely on target. The particular dynamic properties of these ramair parachutes are exploited to provide very slow touchdown velocities. This paper shows how a proper simulation of these control techniques can be adapted to the automatic guidance and control of APADS. A sixdegree-of freedom simulation model, developed and validated for a parachute training simulator, is employed.
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