Station keeping studies.
Manual control stationkeeping simulation, studying tether visual rendezvous techniques and fuel economy
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Manual control stationkeeping simulation, studying tether visual rendezvous techniques and fuel economy
Feasibility of mechanical impedance control and simulation in shock and vibration testing of one-dimensional structures
Vacuum thermal environmental testing of Nimbus I control system
Piloted simulation of docking with various configurations of jet failures and solar panels extended or retracted
A piloted simulation of algorithms for onboard computation of trajectories for time-optimal intercept of a moving target by an F-8 aircraft is described. The algorithms, use singular perturbation techniques, generate commands in the cockpit. By centering the horizontal and vertical needles, the pilot flies an approximation to a time-optimal intercept trajectory. Example simulations are shown and statistical data on the pilot's performance when presented with different display and computation modes are described.
This paper describes an environment for the design, simulation and control of Internet-based force-relflecting telerobotc systems. We define these systems as using a segment of the computer network to connect the master to the slave.
A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed to simulate pressure control of an ellipsoidal-shaped liquid hydrogen tank under external heating in normal gravity. Pressure control is provided by an axial jet thermodynamic vent system (TVS) centered within the vessel that injects cooler liquid into the tank, mixing the contents and reducing tank pressure. The two-phase cryogenic tank model considers liquid hydrogen in its own vapor with liquid density varying with temperature only and a fully compressible ullage. The axisymmetric model is developed using a custom version of the commercially available FLOW-31) software. Quantitative model validation is ,provided by engineering checkout tests performed at Marshall Space Flight Center in 1999 in support of the Solar Thermal Upper Stage_ Technology Demonstrator (STUSTD) program. The engineering checkout tests provide cryogenic tank self-pressurization test data at various heat leaks and tank fill levels. The predicted self-pressurization rates, ullage and liquid temperatures at discrete locations within the STUSTD tank are in good agreement with test data. The work presented here advances current CFD modeling capabilities for cryogenic pressure control and helps develop a low cost CFD-based design process for space hardware.
A technique was developed for the simulation of random wind fluctuations for use in computer studies of the space shuttle ascent control. The simulated wind fluctuations were generated using the techniques of control theory that have statistical characteristics similar to the characteristics obtained from wind data at Kennedy Space Center.
Integrated flight/propulsion control systems have been designed for operation of STOVL aircraft over the low speed powered-lift flight envelope. The control system employs command modes for attitude, flightpath angle and flightpath acceleration during transition, and translational velocity command for hover and vertical landing. The command modes and feedback control are implemented in the form of a state-rate feedback implicit model follower to achieve the desired flying qualities and to suppress the effects of external disturbances and variations in the aircraft characteristics over the low speed envelope. A nonlinear inverse system was used to translate the output from these commands and feedback control into commands for the various aerodynamic and propulsion control effectors that are employed in powered-lift flight. Piloted evaluations of these STOVL integrated control designs have been conducted on Ames Research Center's Vertical Motion Simulator to assess flying qualities over the low-speed flight envelope. Results indicate that Level 1 flying qualities are achieved with this control system concept for each of these low-speed operations over a wide range of wind, atmospheric turbulence, and visibility conditions.
Presented here is the evaluation of multiple adaptive control technologies for a generic transport aircraft simulation. For this study, seven model reference adaptive control (MRAC) based technologies were considered. Each technology was integrated into an identical dynamic-inversion control architecture and tuned using a methodology based on metrics and specific design requirements. Simulation tests were then performed to evaluate each technology s sensitivity to time-delay, flight condition, model uncertainty, and artificially induced cross-coupling. The resulting robustness and performance characteristics were used to identify potential strengths, weaknesses, and integration challenges of the individual adaptive control technologies
The purpose of this report is twofold: (1) to survey the established analytic procedures for the simulation of controlled flexible space vehicles, and (2) to develop in detail methods that employ a combination of discrete and distributed ("modal") coordinates, i.e., the hybrid-coordinate methods. Analytic procedures are described in three categories: (1) discrete-coordinate methods, (2) hybrid-coordinate methods, and (3) vehicle normal-coordinate methods. Each of these approaches is described and analyzed for its advantages and disadvantages, and each is found to have an area of applicability. The hybrid-coordinate method combines the efficiency of the vehicle normal-coordinate method with the versatility of the discrete-coordinate method, and appears to have the widest range of practical application. The results in this report have practical utility in two areas: (1) complex digital computer simulation of flexible space vehicles of arbitrary configuration subject to realistic control laws, and (2) preliminary control system design based on transfer functions for linearized models of dynamics and control laws.
Using a numerical mesoscale model, four simulations were performed to determine the effects of suppressing the initial mesoscale information in the moisture and wind fields on the precipitation forecasts. The simulations included a control forecast 12-h simulation that began at 1200 GMT March 1982 and three experiment simulations with modifications to the moisture and vertical motion fields incorporated at 1800 GMT. The forecasts from 1800 GMT were compared to the second half of the control forecast. It was found that, compared to the control forecast, suppression of the moisture and/or wind initial field(s) produces a drier forecast. However, the characteristics of the precipitation forecasts of the experiments were not different enough to conclude that either mesoscale moisture or mesoscale vertical velocity at the initial time are more important for producing a forecast closer to that of the control.
Optimization of VTOL control concepts and comparison on six degree of freedom motion simulator
A CFD model for simulating pressure control in cryogenic storage tanks through the injection of a subcooled liquid into the ullage is presented and applied to the 1g MHTB spray bar cooling experiments. An Eulerian-Lagrangian approach is utilized to track the spray droplets and capture the interaction between the discrete droplets and the continuous ullage phase. The spray model is coupled with the VOF model by performing particle tracking in the ullage, removing particles from the ullage when they reach the interface, and then adding their contributions to the liquid. A new model for calculating the droplet-ullage heat and mass transfer is developed. In this model, a droplet is allowed to warm up to the saturation temperature corresponding to the ullage vapor pressure, after which it evaporates while remaining at the saturation temperature. The droplet model is validated against the results of the MHTB spray-bar cooling experiments with 50% and 90% tank fill ratios. The predictions of the present T-sat based model are compared with those of a previously developed kinetic-based droplet mass transfer model. The predictions of the two models regarding the evolving tank pressure and temperature distributions, as well as the droplets' trajectories and temperatures, are examined and compared in detail. Finally, the ullage pressure and local vapor and liquid temperature evolutions are validated against the corresponding data provided by the MHTB spray bar mixing experiment.
This work is a simulation technology demonstrator, of sweep jet flow control used to suppress boundary layer separation and increase the maximum achievable load coefficients. A sweep jet is a discrete Coanda jet that oscillates in the plane parallel to an aerodynamic surface. It injects mass and momentum in the approximate streamwise direction. It also generates turbulent eddies at the oscillation frequency, which are typically large relative to the scales of boundary layer turbulence, and which augment mixing across the boundary layer to attack flow separation. Simulations of a fluidic oscillator, the sweep jet emerging from a nozzle downstream of the oscillator, and an array of sweep jets which suppresses boundary layer separation are performed. Simulation results are compared to data from a dedicated validation experiment of a single oscillator and its sweep jet, and from a wind tunnel test of a full-scale Boeing 757 vertical tail augmented with an array of sweep jets. A critical step in the work is the development of realistic time-dependent sweep jet inflow boundary conditions, derived from the results of the single-oscillator simulations, which create the sweep jets in the full-tail simulations. Simulations were performed using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver Overow, with high-order spatial discretization and a range of turbulence modeling. Good results were obtained for all flows simulated, when suitable turbulence modeling was used.
A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed to simulate pressure control of an ellipsoidal-shaped liquid hydrogen tank under external heating in low gravity. Pressure control is provided by an axial jet thermodynamic vent system (TVS) centered within the vessel that injects cooler liquid into the tank, mixing the contents and reducing tank pressure. The two-phase cryogenic tank model considers liquid hydrogen in its own vapor with liquid density varying with temperature only and a fully compressible ullage. The axisymmetric model is developed using a custom version of the commercially available FLOW-3D software and simulates low gravity extrapolations of engineering checkout tests performed at Marshall Space Flight Center in 1999 in support of the Solar Thermal Upper Stage Technology Demonstrator (STUSTD) program. Model results illustrate that stable low gravity liquid-gas interfaces are maintained during all phases of the pressure control cycle. Steady and relatively smooth ullage pressurization rates are predicted. This work advances current low gravity CFD modeling capabilities for cryogenic pressure control and aids the development of a low cost CFD-based design process for space hardware.
A two-pilot moving base simulator experiment was conducted to assess the effects of servo failures of a flight control system on the transient dynamics of a Bell UH-1H helicopter. The flight control hardware considered was part of the V/STOLAND system built with control authorities of from 20-40%. Servo hardover and oscillatory failures were simulated in each control axis. Measurements were made to determine the adequacy of the failure monitoring system time delay and the servo center and lock time constant, the pilot reaction times, and the altitude and attitude excursions of the helicopter at hover and 60 knots. Safe recoveries were made from all failures under VFR conditions. Pilot reaction times were from 0.5 to 0.75 sec. Reduction of monitor delay times below these values resulted in significantly reduced excursion envelopes. A subsequent flight test was conducted on a UH-1H helicopter with the V/STOLAND system installed. Series servo hardovers were introduced in hover and at 60 knots straight and level. Data from these tests are included for comparison.
Space exploration projects on systems, guidance and control, environmental simulation, space sciences, propulsion, telecommunications, and engineering mechanics