STTR Phase I: SYNTHETIC JET BASED ROBUST MAV FLIGHT CONTROLLER

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This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project initiates development of a conceptually new ?seamless? micro air vehicle (MAV) design based on distributed array of synthetic-jet micro-actuators (SJMAs) operating in a closed-loop flight control system to achieve unprecedented aircraft maneuvering and gust tolerance capabilities. A radical minimalism in the robust flight controller design is proposed to make it suitable for MAVs with limited onboard computational capability. The design is particularly advantageous for high levels of parametric uncertainty and nonlinearity present both in the unsteady flight-path environment and the embedded actuator?s response. The research objectives of the Phase I research include: (i) Design of the robust SJMA-based flight controller which is easily and inexpensively implementable, requiring no observers, function approximators, or adaptive update laws needed for alternative methods, (ii) Development of low-fidelity MAV flight simulator to be used as a testbed for design and optimization of the robust flight controller concept, (iii) Technology demonstration using high-fidelity simulations, and (iv) Assessment of technical and commercial merits and commercialization feasibility. The proof-of-concept benchmark studies will demonstrate robust flutter control of elastically-mounted airfoil entering limit-cycle oscillations (LCO) due to impinging upstream flow disturbances including deterministic gust and stochastic turbulence with prescribed characteristics. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project include: (i) Developing enabling robust flight control technology to meet requirements specified for the market sector of airborne combat and civil autonomous systems to conduct intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions with enhanced maneuverability and flight stability capabilities for operations in highly unsteady flight-path environments; (ii) Provide scientific and technological understanding of SJMA control authority required as part of the closed-loop flight control system through conducting low- and high-fidelity benchmark studies; (iii) Creating potential for the technology demonstration to grow into the first start-up company incubated by ERAU, thus opening new employment opportunities and directly meeting objectives to spearhead the development of the advanced aerospace technologies and foster the creation of the university Research Park providing synergy between industry and academia in the Daytona Beach HUB-zone area; (iv) Enhancing the aerospace engineering design curriculum with focus on novel air vehicle concepts; (v) Contributing to the research team environment in the predominantly teaching university by involving faculty and students in research projects and collaboration between engineering departments on cross-disciplinary research subjects; (vi) Providing important rational to initiated Ph.D. program in ERAU College of Engineering; (vii) Involving female, minority and handicapped participants in the research project.