Robustes Flugregelungskonzept für ein hybrides unbemanntes Fluggerät

• Robust flight control concept for a hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle

Haimerl, Michael; Moormann, Dieter (Thesis advisor); Heller, Matthias (Thesis advisor)

Aachen (2019, 2020)
Dissertation / PhD Thesis

Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2019

Abstract

This thesis deals with the flight mechanics and the robust flight control of the Quadcruiser hybrid aircraft Quadcruiser developed by Airbus Defence and Space. This aircraft consists of a combination of a multicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft, what gives reason for the term "hybrid" in the name. It operates in different flight phases such as hover, transition and fixed-wing flight. In this work, the flight mechanics of hover and transition are analysed comprehensively using a flight test validated model. The essential part of this analysis is the description of the open loop flight dynamics using eigenvalue/eigenvector analysis, which serves as a basis for the development of a robust control concept. The presented control concept deals with the flight control in the flight phases hover and transition. This enables to operate the aircraft stationary during each flight phase. Special focus is on robustness, which is provided against model uncertainties, unknown state variables, such as wind and the failure of an engine. The key to robustness is provided by the combination of the differential PI algorithm with a cascaded direct allocation and a prioritization of the control axes.