Control Authorities of a Distributed Actuation and Sensing Array on a Blended-Wing-Body Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle
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Date
2007-04-26
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Abstract
A distributed actuation array was installed on a blended-wing-body uninhabited aerial vehicle and tested in the 12-foot subsonic wind tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center. From the results of these tests, a discussion is given of the baseline aircraft, its conventional control surfaces, and the distributed array. Each effector in the distributed array was tested individually as well as pre-determined configurations incorporating all 12 effectors on each wing. From the tests on the individual effectors, a method was created that allows for the prediction of the control authorities for any configuration of the array. The six pre-determined shapes served as bases for comparison to determine the accuracy of the prediction scheme. Additionally, the shapes were compared to the conventional control surfaces to determine if a distributed array could completely replace those control surfaces.
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Keywords
Distributed actuation, blended wing body, uninhabited aerial vehicle, UAV, distributed sensing
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Degree
MS
Discipline
Aerospace Engineering
