Advanced Control of Endurance Aircraft Configured for Agile Hover Operations Navy SBIR FY2010.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2010.2 Topic No.: N102-172 Topic Title: Advanced Control of Endurance Aircraft Configured for Agile Hover Operations Proposal No.: N102-172-0423 Firm: Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation 9950 Wakeman Drive Manassas, Virginia 20110 Contact: James Paduano Phone: (617) 500-4807 Web Site: www.aurora.aero Abstract: Aircraft with very long endurance and range, but with the ability to perform hover and stare, ship-board recovery, and wind/gust rejection must have special control and dynamics properties that are different than any currently fielded aircraft. Aurora Flight Science will develop Precision Hover Agility (PHA) flight control design methods, and apply them to various configurations developed specifically to meet next-generation Navy needs. Aurora's vehicle designs and methods take into account the need to provide large disturbance-rejection forces and moments, to detect both vehicle and ship dynamics in new ways, and to track in a predictive manner. Aurora will develop accurate models for a range of aircraft concepts, and test these concepts using advanced flight control methods in relevant gust and ship-deck tracking environments. Thus the Phase I effort will develop and demonstrate a flight control architecture for multi-flight-mode UAVs performing operations requiring precision hover agility. Development will be sufficient to enable Phase II prototype testing, whose set-up will begin during the Phase I option. Benefits: Long endurance and hover/vertical recover capability have long been un-achievable in one package. Recent technologies, including high energy-density batteries, light-weight fuel cells, and energy harvesting concepts, have cleared the way for a new class of vehicles which, by virtue of its versatility, will have numerous applications in military domains where vertical take-off and landing is required, but the range/endurance penalties of current VTOL vehicles is unacceptable. Aurora will advance and apply a number of technologies to make such a vehicle possible from both a vehicle design standpoint but from a guidance, stability, and control standpoint. Commercial applications abound for such a vehicle, pending regulatory acceptance and guidance for UAVs in such applications. Return