Aggressive Maneuvering of a Thrust Vectored Flying Wing: A Receding Horizon Approach
John Hauser and Ali Jadbabie
Submitted, 2000 Conference on Decision and Control
This paper deals with the control of a thrust vectored Flying wing
known as the ducted fan, developed at California Institute of Technolnogy. The experiment was developed to serve as a testbed for nonlinear
control design. In an earlier paper, the authors reported simulation results based on a simplified (no aerodynamics involved) planar model
of the ducted fan around hover position. In this paper we report
on the modeling and simulation of the ducted fan in forward flight,
when aerodynamic forces and moments can no longer be ignored. It is
shown that using quasi Linear Parameter Varying (Quasi LPV) techniques, one can obtain a Control Lyapunov Function (CLF) for the
equilibrium point corresponding to ying level at a constant velocity. By utilizing a receding horizon strategy in conjunction with the
above mentioned CLF, a receding horizon scheme is developed and
applied to the model. furthermore, using a more simplified version
of the model, some aggressive trajectories are generated. By using
the trajectories of the simplified model as a reference in the receding
horizon scheme, these trajectories are morphed into the trajectories of
the full model. Simulation results depict the capabilities of the ducted
fan as well as the control methodology in performing aggressive maneuvers.
Conference Paper
(postscript)