A Hardware Demonstration of an Integrated Adaptive Wing Shape and Flight Control Law for Morphing Aircraft

Abstract

In-flight morphing technology promises to yield a versatile aircraft capable of significant changes in aerodynamics. This type of aircraft, however, will present many unique control challenges. Barron Associates has developed a multi-level control architecture to provide intelligent control of morphing aircraft. This architecture consists of three components: (1) adaptive wing-shape control, (2) adaptive flight control, and (3) integrated command generation. At the lowest level, adaptive wing-shape control precisely manipulates the morphing planform in the face of variable loads and structural constraints. At an intermediate level, adaptive flight control provides consistent performance for all wing configurations and morphing transitions in the face of changing aerodynamics. At the highest level, integrated command generation harnesses the benefits of in-flight morphing to meet mission objectives. The performance of the architecture was successfully tested in a hardware demonstration using a real-time vehicle simulation including simulated sensor models, flight-control hardware with real-time control algorithms, and NextGen’s MFX-2 flight-test asset.