This lecture will provide three aerospace applications of control intended to highlight the important themes of modeling, uncertainty and how feedback is used to shape dynamic performance. The first example will be a flight control problem. The general process of modeling, analysis and closed loop design and experiment will be illustrated with a F-14 model. This example shows how closed loop response can be shaped by feedback to enable the pilot to better control the aircraft and is also interesting because the pilot is actually part of the closed loop system. The second example concerns aeroengine control. The primary purpose of the control system is to provide thrust as commanded by the throttle while avoiding constraints (temperatures, pressures) that might cause damage to the engine. Because thrust is not directly measured but is rather computed from available temperature, pressure and spool speed measurements, the closed loop response is sensitive to certain aspects of model uncertainty. This example illustrates both the advantages and potential pitfalls of closed loop control. The third example investigates active control of combustion within the aeroengine. The process of combustion can, in certain modes of operation, excite unmodeled and undesirable dynamics within the combustion chamber potentially causing physical damage. This example illustrates the importance and usefulness of reduced order modeling and how it provides insight to the control system designer into how the overall design might be corrected through redesign or closed loop feedback. The latter two examples represent research problems currently under study at UTRC.
Copy of presentation [pdf] (Caltech only)
This seminar is being presented as part of CDS 101, Principles of Feedback and Control. If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive future CDS 101 seminar announcements, you can subscribe to the cds101-announce mailing list.