Articles

Flight dynamics modeling and control scheme design of compound high-speed unmanned helicopters

  • Bowen NIE ,
  • Liangquan WANG ,
  • Zhiyin HUANG ,
  • Long HE ,
  • Shipeng YANG ,
  • Hongtao YAN ,
  • Guichuan ZHANG
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  • 1.State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics,Mianyang 621000,China
    2.Low Speed Aerodynamics Institute,China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center,Mianyang  621000,China
    3.School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering,Beihang University,Beijing  100191,China
    4.Aerospace Technology Institute,China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center,Mianyang  621000,China
E-mail: zgc29@163.com

Received date: 2023-11-08

  Revised date: 2023-11-20

  Accepted date: 2024-02-27

  Online published: 2024-03-13

Supported by

Provincial and Ministerial Project

Abstract

The compound high-speed unmanned helicopter consists mainly of the aerodynamic components such as rotor, wing, propeller, fuselage, and horizontal & vertical tails. Aerodynamic interferences between components can be complex and vary rapidly with the forward flight speed. To achieve a high level of model confidence, it is necessary to correct the flight dynamics model parameters according to the forward flight speed. Besides, the flight control scheme must be adjusted accordingly to achieve stable and controllable flight throughout the entire speed envelope. A model for the flight dynamics of the compound high-speed unmanned helicopter is presented. The model is corrected based on wind tunnel trimming tests to enhance the confidence of the mathematical model. At the trimming point, the non-linear dynamics model is linearized to obtain the evolution of the open-loop dynamics with the forward flight speed. The effect of the control augmentation system on the closed-loop steering stability performance is also evaluated. Based on the classical control approach, a set of practical feed-forward compensation, loop weighting, and control allocation schemes are designed considering the lift, thrust, and yaw characteristics of the compound high-speed unmanned helicopter. Simulation and test flight verification are carried out to confirm the effectiveness of these schemes. The results show that the proposed nonlinear dynamic model has high confidence, and the consistency between the trim results of the mathematical model and wind tunnel tests is good. The distribution of eigenvalues of the high/low-order linear models is basically consistent and the maneuver response characteristics are in good agreement with the nonlinear dynamic model. The flight simulation preliminarily validates the effectiveness of the compound scheme for lift, thrust, and yaw. The successful flight test of the first 300 kg prototype in China validates the compound flight control scheme in hover and low-speed flight.

Cite this article

Bowen NIE , Liangquan WANG , Zhiyin HUANG , Long HE , Shipeng YANG , Hongtao YAN , Guichuan ZHANG . Flight dynamics modeling and control scheme design of compound high-speed unmanned helicopters[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2024 , 45(9) : 529848 -529848 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2024.29848

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