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At least 1,387 records · Page 77

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NASA NTRS1993

Network command processing system overview

The Network Command Processing System (NCPS) developed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ground Network (GN) stations is a spacecraft command system utilizing a MULTIBUS I/68030 microprocessor. This system was developed and implemented at ground stations worldwide to provide a Project Operations Control Center (POCC) with command capability for support of spacecraft operations such as the LANDSAT, Shuttle, Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, and Nimbus-7. The NCPS consolidates multiple modulation schemes for supporting various manned/unmanned orbital platforms. The NCPS interacts with the POCC and a local operator to process configuration requests, generate modulated uplink sequences, and inform users of the ground command link status. This paper presents the system functional description, hardware description, and the software design.

Nam, Yon-Woo↗

NASA NTRS1993

Propulsion controlled aircraft research

The NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility has been conducting flight, ground simulator, and analytical studies to investigate the use of thrust modulation on multi-engine aircraft for emergency flight control. Two general methods of engine only control have been studied; manual manipulation of the throttles by the pilot, and augmented control where a computer commands thrust levels in response to pilot attitude inputs and aircraft motion feedbacks. This latter method is referred to as the Propulsion Controlled Aircraft (PCA) System. A wide variety of aircraft have been investigated. Simulation studies have included the B720, F-15, B727, B747 and MD-11. A look at manual control has been done in actual flight on the F15, T-38, B747, Lear 25, T-39, MD-11 and PA-30 Aircraft. The only inflight trial of the augmented (PCA) concept has been on an F15, the results of which will be presented below.

Fullerton, C. Gordon↗

NASA NTRS2018

An Innovative Control Allocation Scheme to Address Reaction Thruster Interactions on a 3U CubeSat

A wealth of literature exists on control allocation algorithms for over-actuated air vehicles, launch vehicles, and spacecraft's. Most of these algorithms focus primarily on minimizing some objective function such as command tracking error and/or control effector usage. Linear allocators (pseudo inverses) are usually the conventional choice due to their simplicity and the ability to achieve a significant portion of the theoretical moment/impulse space. Generally, it is assumed that there exists minimal interaction effects between control effectors. In fact, very few studies address the problem of control effector interactions in the context of control allocation, especially for small spacecraft's with a reaction control system (RCS). This paper presents a CubeSat RCS design with a four thruster tetrahedral layout such that when two or more thrusters re, the resultant impulse differs noticeably compared to the sum of the contributions from individual thruster rings. This undesirable effect is caused by the design of the propellant tank and regulator. To mitigate this issue, an innovative modified pseudo inverse (MPI) control allocation algorithm was developed that adjusts the pseudo inverse solution based on test data. The algorithm is iteration-free and superior to the standard pseudo inverse in minimizing the command tracking error.

Pei, Jing↗

NASA NTRS2009

Methodologies for Adaptive Flight Envelope Estimation and Protection

This paper reports the latest development of several techniques for adaptive flight envelope estimation and protection system for aircraft under damage upset conditions. Through the integration of advanced fault detection algorithms, real-time system identification of the damage/faulted aircraft and flight envelop estimation, real-time decision support can be executed autonomously for improving damage tolerance and flight recoverability. Particularly, a bank of adaptive nonlinear fault detection and isolation estimators were developed for flight control actuator faults; a real-time system identification method was developed for assessing the dynamics and performance limitation of impaired aircraft; online learning neural networks were used to approximate selected aircraft dynamics which were then inverted to estimate command margins. As off-line training of network weights is not required, the method has the advantage of adapting to varying flight conditions and different vehicle configurations. The key benefit of the envelope estimation and protection system is that it allows the aircraft to fly close to its limit boundary by constantly updating the controller command limits during flight. The developed techniques were demonstrated on NASA s Generic Transport Model (GTM) simulation environments with simulated actuator faults. Simulation results and remarks on future work are presented.

Tang, Liang↗

NASA NTRS1977

Multi-axis hand controller for the shuttle remote manipulator system

The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, has a articulated arm of 50 ft. length with six motor-driven joints. The basic purpose is to establish physical contact with various space hardware items and maneuver these to the desired position and attitude with respect to the Orbiter, nulling out relative velocities and stabilizing the free-body system by managing residual energies. The normal operating mode is resolved-motion end-point rate control by man-in-loop command. The translational freedoms are defined so that the End Effector (EEFTR) of the arm will move in planes parallel to the principal translational planes of the Orbiter, at a rate commanded by the displacement of the Translation Hand Controller in the corresponding freedom and direction. The rotational freedoms are rate-controlled by the Rotation Hand Controller about pivot axes parallel to Orbiter roll, pitch and yaw, originating at the EEFTR reference point.

Lippay, A. L.↗

NASA NTRS1981

DSN command system

Modification of the currently operational DSN Command System MK 3-80 consisted of improvement of the uplink carrier frequency tuning capability to satisfy Voyager 2 requirements. Upgrading of Command System monitoring functions in the Network Operations Control Center is discussed. The DSN Command System requirements and functional design are described for the Mark 4 Network.

Thorman, H. C.↗

NASA NTRS1991

An analytical and experimental study to investigate flutter suppression via piezoelectric actuation

The objective was to analytically and experimentally study the capabilities of adaptive material plate actuators for suppressing flutter. The validity of analytical modeling techniques for piezoelectric materials was also investigated. Piezoelectrics are materials which are characterized by their ability to produce voltage when subjected to a mechanical strain. The converse piezoelectric effect can be utilized to actuate a structure by applying a voltage. For this investigation, a two degree of freedom wind tunnel model was designed, analyzed, and tested. The model consisted of a rigid airfoil and a flexible mount system which permitted a translational and a rotational degree of freedom. It was designed such that flutter was encounted within the testing envelope of the wind tunnel. Actuators, made of piezoelectric material were affixed to leaf springs of the mount system. Each degree of freedom was controlled by a separate leaf spring. Command signals, applied to the piezoelectric actuators, exerted control over the damping and stiffness properties. A mathematical aeroservoelastic model was constructed using finite element methods, laminated plate theory, and aeroelastic analysis tools. Plant characteristics were determined from this model and verified by open loop experimental tests. A flutter suppression control law was designed and implemented on a digital control computer. Closed loop flutter testing was conducted. The experimental results represent the first time that adaptive materials have been used to actively suppress flutter. It demonstrates that small, carefully placed actuating plates can be used effectively to control aeroelastic response.

Heeg, Jennifer↗

NASA NTRS1997

Development and Flight Test of an Emergency Flight Control System Using Only Engine Thrust on an MD-11 Transport Airplane

An emergency flight control system that uses only engine thrust, called the propulsion-controlled aircraft (PCA) system, was developed and flight tested on an MD-11 airplane. The PCA system is a thrust-only control system, which augments pilot flightpath and track commands with aircraft feedback parameters to control engine thrust. The PCA system was implemented on the MD-11 airplane using only software modifications to existing computers. Results of a 25-hr flight test show that the PCA system can be used to fly to an airport and safely land a transport airplane with an inoperative flight control system. In up-and-away operation, the PCA system served as an acceptable autopilot capable of extended flight over a range of speeds, altitudes, and configurations. PCA approaches, go-arounds, and three landings without the use of any normal flight controls were demonstrated, including ILS-coupled hands-off landings. PCA operation was used to recover from an upset condition. The PCA system was also tested at altitude with all three hydraulic systems turned off. This paper reviews the principles of throttles-only flight control, a history of accidents or incidents in which some or all flight controls were lost, the MD-11 airplane and its systems, PCA system development, operation, flight testing, and pilot comments.

Burcham, Frank W., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Piloted Evaluation of Modernized Limited Authority Control Laws in the NASA-Ames Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS)

The UH-60 BLACK HAWK was designed in the 1970s, when the US Army primarily operated during the day in good visual conditions. Subsequently, the introduction of night-vision goggles increased the BLACK HAWK'S mission effectiveness, but the accident rate also increased. The increased accident rate is strongly tied to increased pilot workload as a result of a degradation in visual cues. Over twenty years of research in helicopter flight control and handling qualities has shown that these degraded handling qualities can be recovered by modifying the response type of the helicopter in low speed flight. Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation initiated a project under the National Rotorcraft Technology Center (NRTC) to develop modern flight control laws while utilizing the existing partial authority Stability Augmentation System (SAS) of the BLACK HAWK. This effort resulted in a set of Modernized Control Laws (MCLAWS) that incorporate rate command and attitude command response types. Sikorsky and the US Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate (AFDD) conducted a piloted simulation on the NASA-Ames Vertical h4otion Simulator, to assess potential handling qualities and to reduce the risk of subsequent implementation and flight test of these modern control laws on AFDD's EH-60L helicopter. The simulation showed that Attitude Command Attitude Hold control laws in pitch and roll improve handling qualities in the low speed flight regime. These improvements are consistent across a range of mission task elements and for both good and degraded visual environments. The MCLAWS perform better than the baseline UH-60A control laws in the presence of wind and turbulence. Finally, while the improved handling qualities in the pitch and roll axis allow the pilot to pay more attention to the vertical axis and hence altitude performance also improves, it is clear from pilot comments and altitude excursions that the addition of an Altitude Hold function would further reduce workload and improve overall handling qualities of the aircraft.

Sahasrabudhe, Vineet↗

NASA NTRS2009

Numerical Evaluation of the "Dual-Kernel Counter-flow" Matric Convolution Integral that Arises in Discrete/Continuous (D/C) Control Theory

Discrete/Continuous (D/C) control theory is a new generalized theory of discrete-time control that expands the concept of conventional (exact) discrete-time control to create a framework for design and implementation of discretetime control systems that include a continuous-time command function generator so that actuator commands need not be constant between control decisions, but can be more generally defined and implemented as functions that vary with time across sample period. Because the plant/control system construct contains two linear subsystems arranged in tandem, a novel dual-kernel counter-flow convolution integral appears in the formulation. As part of the D/C system design and implementation process, numerical evaluation of that integral over the sample period is required. Three fundamentally different evaluation methods and associated algorithms are derived for the constant-coefficient case. Numerical results are matched against three available examples that have closed-form solutions.

Nixon, Douglas D.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Towards practical control design using neural computation

The objective is to develop neural network based control design techniques which address the issue of performance/control effort tradeoff. Additionally, the control design needs to address the important issue if achieving adequate performance in the presence of actuator nonlinearities such as position and rate limits. These issues are discussed using the example of aircraft flight control. Given a set of pilot input commands, a feedforward net is trained to control the vehicle within the constraints imposed by the actuators. This is achieved by minimizing an objective function which is the sum of the tracking errors, control input rates and control input deflections. A tradeoff between tracking performance and control smoothness is obtained by varying, adaptively, the weights of the objective function. The neurocontroller performance is evaluated in the presence of actuator dynamics using a simulation of the vehicle. Appropriate selection of the different weights in the objective function resulted in the good tracking of the pilot commands and smooth neurocontrol. An extension of the neurocontroller design approach is proposed to enhance its practicality.

Troudet, Terry↗

NASA NTRS1984

A variable structure approach to robust control of VTOL aircraft

This paper examines the application of variable structure control theory to the design of a flight control system for the AV-8A Harrier in a hover mode. The objective in variable structure design is to confine the state trajectories to a subspace of the total state space. The motion in this subspace is insensitive to system parameter variations and external disturbances that lie in the range space of the control. A switching type of control law results from the design procedure. The control system was designed to track a vector-valued velocity command. For comparison, a proportional controller was designed using optimal linear regulator theory. Both controllers were evaluated for their transient response performance using a linear model; then a nonlinear simulation study of a hovering approach to landing was conducted. The variable structure controller outperformed its linear counterpart in the presence of wind disturbances and plant parameter uncertainties afforded by the simulation.

Calise, A. J.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Generalized bilateral control of robot arms

This paper summarizes the theory of a new form of bilateral or force-reflecting manual control of remote robot (slave) arms. The mathematics of workspace representation, command structure, kinematic and dynamic control coordination required for implementing the new form of generalized bilateral control through computer programs is presented. The paper concludes with a brief description of implementation organization of the new system using a six-degree-of-freedom backdrivable hand controller, a PUMA 560 robot arm and a distributed net of microcomputers organized in two groups: one at the remote work site and one at the control station.

Bejczy, A. K.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Gripper for truss structure assembly

The CIRSSE two-finger gripper is designed to be used with a 6-axis wrist-mounted force-torque sensor as part of an experimental testbed for cooperative robotic manipulation. The gripper system consists of a dedicated controller and a pneumatic powered gripper that is servoed in position or grasping force. The gripper also has a between fingertip light beam sensor. The major features of this new design are: high grasping force to weight ratio (25::1) and compactness (14 cm base-fingertip, 0.8 kilograms); low cost dedicated slave controller; and simple host-controller communications protocol to minimize command interpretation delay. Shared software functions between the host and the controller processor permit the host to select servo mode, servo gain-parameter values, and calibration offsets. Hidden primitive self-test, calibration and servo confidence functions are included.

Kelley, Robert B.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Precision pointing compensation for DSN antennas with optical distance measuring sensors

The pointing control loops of Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas do not account for unmodeled deflections of the primary and secondary reflectors. As a result, structural distortions due to unpredictable environmental loads can result in uncompensated boresight shifts which degrade pointing accuracy. The design proposed here can provide real-time bias commands to the pointing control system to compensate for environmental effects on pointing performance. The bias commands can be computed in real time from optically measured deflections at a number of points on the primary and secondary reflectors. Computer simulations with a reduced-order finite-element model of a DSN antenna validate the concept and lead to a proposed design by which a ten-to-one reduction in pointing uncertainty can be achieved under nominal uncertainty conditions.

Scheid, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Linear quadratic servo control of a reusable rocket engine

A design method for a servo compensator is developed in the frequency domain using singular values. The method is applied to a reusable rocket engine. An intelligent control system for reusable rocket engines was proposed which includes a diagnostic system, a control system, and an intelligent coordinator which determines engine control strategies based on the identified failure modes. The method provides a means of generating various linear multivariable controllers capable of meeting performance and robustness specifications and accommodating failure modes identified by the diagnostic system. Command following with set point control is necessary for engine operation. A Kalman filter reconstructs the state while loop transfer recovery recovers the required degree of robustness while maintaining satisfactory rejection of sensor noise from the command error. The approach is applied to the design of a controller for a rocket engine satisfying performance constraints in the frequency domain. Simulation results demonstrate the performance of the linear design on a nonlinear engine model over all power levels during mainstage operation.

Musgrave, Jeffrey L.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Antenna pointing compensation based on precision optical measurement techniques

The pointing control loops of the Deep Space Network 70 meter antennas extend only to the Intermediate Reference Structure (IRS). Thus, distortion of the structure forward of the IRS due to unpredictable environmental loads can result in uncompensated boresight shifts which degrade blind pointing accuracy. A system is described which can provide real time bias commands to the pointing control system to compensate for environmental effects on blind pointing performance. The bias commands are computed in real time based on optical ranging measurements of the structure from the IRS to a number of selected points on the primary and secondary reflectors.

Schumacher, L. L.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Control Electronics For Reaction Wheel

Bidirectional operation achieved with single-polarity main power supply. Control circuitry generates pulse-width-modulated 800-Hz waveforms to drive two-phase ac motor and reaction wheel. Operates partly in response to digital magnitude-and-direction torque command generated by external control subsystem and partly in response to tachometric feedback in form of two once-per-revolution sinusoids with amplitudes proportional to speed. Operation in either of two modes called "normal" and "safehold." In normal mode, drive pulses timed so that, on average over one or few cycles, motor applies commanded torque. In safehold mode, pulses timed to keep motor running at set speed in one direction.

Chamberlin, Keith↗