Flight Control Design for an Unmanned Rotorcraft Program with a Rapid Development Schedule

摘要

Rotorcraft unmanned air vehicle (RUAV) programs are generally developed with small budgets and in time frames that are measured in months rather than in years. Unlike piloted vehicles, unmanned air vehicle (UAV) programs do not have the luxury of long design cycles with multiple iterations. The Northrop Grumman/Ryan Aeronautical Center-led program successfully developed a prototype RUAV (fig. 1) to bid on the U.S. Navy's VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) Tactical UAV (VTUAV) program. With no remote piloted reversion mode, with no envelope expansion, and with only 4 months to design and develop the flight control systems (FCS), the prototype vehicle successfully flew an 18-minute mission for its first autonomous flight. To complete this program, design tools and methods that develop fast, accurate designs and simulation models were needed.