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Longitudinal Control for Balloon-Borne Launched Solar Powered UAVs in Near-Space

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Abstract

Aiming to improve the pull-up control performance in the process of releasing balloon-borne solar powered UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), this paper establishes the full flight mechanics equations with flexible modes, and proposes the control method suitable for engineering application. To be specific, the authors first calculate the real aerodynamic force on horizontal stabilizer by comparing the fuselage deformation in ballooning test with that in static loading test. Furthermore, considering fuselage elastic deformation, the pitching moment coefficient is obtained and the influence of airspeed and elevator angle on pitching moment coefficient and control surface efficiency are analysed. Second, the authors establish a complete flight mechanics model, including elastic structural dynamic model and rigid flight dynamic model, by comprehensively considering the aerodynamic data, the relationship between fuselage deformation and load, as well as the ballooning test. Third, the authors perform the numerical simulation and comparison study on control performance between rigid model and flexible model. Moreover, the authors implement model modification based on the low altitude flight test and steady-state point analysing. Finally, a scaled UAV is used to complete the balloon-borne launching test. The results show that the longitudinal control method can analyse the longitudinal aerodynamics and control characteristics accurately, and could be effectively utilized in the pull-up control of the balloon-borne solar powered UAV.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Automation and Electrical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yanpeng Hu & Jin Guo

  2. Key Laboratory of Knowledge Automation for Industrial Processes, Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yanpeng Hu & Jin Guo

  3. Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Wenyue Meng & Guanyu Liu

  4. Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Wenchao Xue

Authors
  1. Yanpeng Hu
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  2. Jin Guo
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  3. Wenyue Meng
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  4. Guanyu Liu
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  5. Wenchao Xue
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jin Guo.

Additional information

This research was supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation under Grant No. 4222050 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 62173030.

This paper was recommended for publication by Editor SUN Jian.

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Hu, Y., Guo, J., Meng, W. et al. Longitudinal Control for Balloon-Borne Launched Solar Powered UAVs in Near-Space. J Syst Sci Complex 35, 802–819 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11424-022-1302-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11424-022-1302-6

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