Modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft

Insects use dynamic articulation and actuation of their abdomen and other appendages to augment aerodynamic flight control. These dynamic phenomena in flight serve many purposes, including maintaining balance, enhancing stability, and extending maneuverability. The behaviors have been observed and m...

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Main Authors: Ogunwa, Titilayo, Abdullah, Ermira, Chahl, Javaan
Format: Article
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2022
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102200/
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author Ogunwa, Titilayo
Abdullah, Ermira
Chahl, Javaan
author_facet Ogunwa, Titilayo
Abdullah, Ermira
Chahl, Javaan
author_sort Ogunwa, Titilayo
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Insects use dynamic articulation and actuation of their abdomen and other appendages to augment aerodynamic flight control. These dynamic phenomena in flight serve many purposes, including maintaining balance, enhancing stability, and extending maneuverability. The behaviors have been observed and measured by biologists but have not been well modeled in a flight dynamics framework. Biological appendages are generally comparatively large, actuated in rotation, and serve multiple biological functions. Technological moving masses for flight control have tended to be compact, translational, internally mounted and dedicated to the task. Many flight characteristics of biological flyers far exceed any technological flyers on the same scale. Mathematical tools that support modern control techniques to explore and manage these actuator functions may unlock new opportunities to achieve agility. The compact tensor model of multibody aircraft flight dynamics developed here allows unified dynamic and aerodynamic simulation and control of bioinspired aircraft with wings and any number of idealized appendage masses. The demonstrated aircraft model was a dragonfly-like fixed-wing aircraft. The control effect of the moving abdomen was comparable to the control surfaces, with lateral abdominal motion substituting for an aerodynamic rudder to achieve coordinated turns. Vertical fuselage motion achieved the same effect as an elevator, and included potentially useful transient torque reactions both up and down. The best performance was achieved when both moving masses and control surfaces were employed in the control solution. An aircraft with fuselage actuation combined with conventional control surfaces could be managed with a modern optimal controller designed using the multibody flight dynamics model presented here.
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institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
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spelling upm-1022002023-06-15T21:23:31Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102200/ Modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft Ogunwa, Titilayo Abdullah, Ermira Chahl, Javaan Insects use dynamic articulation and actuation of their abdomen and other appendages to augment aerodynamic flight control. These dynamic phenomena in flight serve many purposes, including maintaining balance, enhancing stability, and extending maneuverability. The behaviors have been observed and measured by biologists but have not been well modeled in a flight dynamics framework. Biological appendages are generally comparatively large, actuated in rotation, and serve multiple biological functions. Technological moving masses for flight control have tended to be compact, translational, internally mounted and dedicated to the task. Many flight characteristics of biological flyers far exceed any technological flyers on the same scale. Mathematical tools that support modern control techniques to explore and manage these actuator functions may unlock new opportunities to achieve agility. The compact tensor model of multibody aircraft flight dynamics developed here allows unified dynamic and aerodynamic simulation and control of bioinspired aircraft with wings and any number of idealized appendage masses. The demonstrated aircraft model was a dragonfly-like fixed-wing aircraft. The control effect of the moving abdomen was comparable to the control surfaces, with lateral abdominal motion substituting for an aerodynamic rudder to achieve coordinated turns. Vertical fuselage motion achieved the same effect as an elevator, and included potentially useful transient torque reactions both up and down. The best performance was achieved when both moving masses and control surfaces were employed in the control solution. An aircraft with fuselage actuation combined with conventional control surfaces could be managed with a modern optimal controller designed using the multibody flight dynamics model presented here. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2022-01-23 Article PeerReviewed Ogunwa, Titilayo and Abdullah, Ermira and Chahl, Javaan (2022) Modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft. Applied Sciences, 12 (3). art. no. 1162. pp. 1-36. ISSN 2076-3417 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/3/1162 10.3390/app12031162
spellingShingle Ogunwa, Titilayo
Abdullah, Ermira
Chahl, Javaan
Modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft
title Modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft
title_full Modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft
title_fullStr Modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft
title_full_unstemmed Modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft
title_short Modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft
title_sort modeling and control of an articulated multibody aircraft
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102200/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102200/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102200/