Automatic Control of Formation Flight in the Upwind Field of the a Proceeding Aircraft

飞机迎风场编队飞行自动控制

• 批准号: 210166512
• 负责人: Professor Dr.-Ing. Robert Luckner
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Fachgebiet Flugmechanik, Flugregelung und Aeroelastizität
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2011-12-31 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/210166512?language=en
• 关键词: Automatic; Control; Formation; Flight; Upwind

Aviation has to significantly reduce its emissions in the future. The potential of saving power while flying in formation like migratory birds has long been known, but is still unused. Using this technique, airplanes can save 15-20% of fuel. The trailing aircraft uses the upwind field of the preceding aircraft to reduce thrust and thereby fuel consumption. In several flight tests fuel reductions of 8-15% were successfully demonstrated for different types of aircraft for example in July 2013 using Boeing C-17 transport aircraft on long cruise flight segments. Those flights were performed manually or by using an experimental, relatively simple position control system.In the first project phase it was demonstrated, that tight formation flight using transport aircraft is possible - with fuel reductions of 10% for the following aircraft. The procedure for entering and maintaining the formation in automatic operation was proposed and pilots confirmed it to be feasible. The structure of the control system and its design methods were devised, a control system for seeking the optimal position in the upwind field which is robust against vortex-axes variations was developed. The automatic formation flight can be demonstrated in a flight simulator. To date the investigations are confined to formations of two identical aircraft (homogenous formation), flying steady, straight horizontal trajectories, and limited to flights without failures.Based on the perceptions made so far it can be assumed that formation flight can be used in commercial flight operations (Hypothesis H1). The expected benefits will justify the efforts that are needed to develop necessary systems and procedures (H2). A broad acceptance by aircraft operators and pilots is still missing. It can only be achieved if formation flight is not only cost-efficient but also safe and reliable. To achieve this, an automatic formation flight control system including sensors and displays, which is robust against parameter changes, as well as flight procedures that cover normal flight operations and failures are required (H3).The objective of the second project phase is to clarify, based on the working hypotheses H1 to H3, how and under which conditions the automatic formation flight - including heterogeneous formations - can be safely, efficiently, and comfortably performed so that it can be used in commercial flight operation. The research will be carried out in five steps: 1) definition of procedures, 2) formulation of requirements, 3) development of a concept for sensors and display, 4) design of the control system, and 5) evaluation of steps 1 to 4 in the flight simulator. With the flight simulator SEPHIR which was enhanced during the project an eminently suitable tool is available for research. Results of the project will be coherent operation procedures for both normal and failure cases and a robust concept for the control system. Based on that an integration into future aircraft is possible.

航空业必须在未来大幅减少排放。像候鸟一样编队飞行时节省电力的潜力早已被人们所知，但仍然没有被使用。使用这种技术，飞机可以节省15-20%的燃料。尾随的飞机利用前一架飞机的逆风场来减少推力，从而减少燃料消耗。在几次飞行测试中，不同类型的飞机成功地减少了8-15%的燃料，例如2013年7月使用波音C-17运输机进行长途巡航飞行。这些飞行是手动完成的，或者使用一个实验性的、相对简单的位置控制系统。在项目的第一阶段，已经证明了使用运输机进行紧密编队飞行是可能的--后续飞机的燃油减少了10%。提出了进入和保持编队自动运行的程序，飞行员证实是可行的。设计了控制系统的结构和设计方法，开发了一种能在逆风场中寻找最佳位置的控制系统，该系统对涡轴变化具有鲁棒性。自动编队飞行可以在飞行模拟器中演示。迄今为止，研究仅限于两架相同飞机的编队（同质编队），稳定飞行，水平直线轨迹，并且限于无故障飞行。根据迄今为止的认识，可以假定编队飞行可以用于商业飞行（假设H1）。预期收益将证明开发必要系统和程序所需的努力是合理的（H2）。飞机运营商和飞行员仍然没有广泛接受。只有在编队飞行不仅具有成本效益而且安全可靠的情况下才能实现这一目标。为了实现这一点，需要一个包括传感器和显示器的自动编队飞行控制系统，该系统对参数变化以及包括正常飞行操作和故障的飞行程序具有鲁棒性（H3）。项目第二阶段的目标是，根据工作假设H1至H3，如何以及在何种条件下可以安全、有效和舒适地执行自动编队飞行（包括异构编队），使得其可以用于商业飞行操作。研究将分五个步骤进行：1）程序定义，2）制定要求，3）传感器和显示器概念的开发，4）控制系统的设计，以及5）在飞行模拟器中评估步骤1至4。随着飞行模拟器SEPHIR，这是在项目期间增强一个非常合适的工具，可用于研究。该项目的结果将是正常和故障情况下的一致操作程序以及控制系统的鲁棒概念。在此基础上，集成到未来的飞机是可能的。