Navigation and Perception for an Autonomous Titan Aerobot

Elfes, Alberto; Hall, Jeffery L.; Kulczycki, Eric; Clouse, Daniel S.; Morfopoulos, Arin C.; Montgomery, Jacqueline; Cameron, Jonathan; Ansar, Adnan; Machuzak, R.

doi:10.2514/6.2007-6266

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Consequently, the low power requirement for level flight is the key reason airships are often proposed as the best method of aerial exploration for Titan. 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Development of an Analytical Parameterized Linear Lateral Dynamic Model for an Aerobot Airship

Kulczycki

Bayard

Koehler

et al. 2011

AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference

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Titan, one of Saturn's moons, is an area of high interest for in-situ study due to its many intriguing features such as cryovolcanos and methane lakes. This Saturnian moon has a dense atmosphere, rough icy terrain, and low surface winds which would make the ideal place to send a controlled aerial robotic platform such as an Aerobot Airship. An important feature of a self-propelled lighter-than-air aerial vehicle is that it must be autonomously controlled to navigate and avoid obstacles due to a 2.6 hour communication delay that exists between the Earth and Titan. Developing a dynamic model that could be tuned wouldenable robust and reliable control of the Aerobot Airship. A parameterized analytical longitudinal linear dynamic model of the airship has been previously developed in support of Autonomous Aerobots. This paper presents the development of a linear parameterized analytical lateral dynamic model for an airship, completing the three-dimensional motion of an airship. The method used to develop this dynamic model does not utilize system identification as is typically used, but it relies on the use of aircraft stability derivative methods with the basic geometric and aerodynamic properties of the airship. This method reduces time and cost while providing ease of implementation fortuning multiple operating points. Comparisons of simulations of the model with other stable airship dynamic models show similar behavior that validates our method. Nomenclature A= 6x1 aerodynamics force vector A = state matrix for state space AR = aspect ratio of the main lifting body (unitless) B = buoyancy force acting at the center of volume (N) B= input matrix for state space C L = coefficient of lift (unitless) = vertical tail lift curve slope (unitless) = coefficient of the change in L moment with respect to sideslip angle β (unitless) = tip shape effect on (unitless) = coefficient of the change in L moment with respect to roll rate p (unitless) = coefficient of the change in L moment with respect to yaw rate r (unitless) = coefficient of the change in L moment with respect to rudder deflection (unitless) = coefficient of the change in N moment with respect to sideslip angle β (unitless) = coefficient of the change in N moment due to the wing fuselage with respect to sideslip angle β = coefficient of the change in N moment with respect to roll rate p (unitless) = coefficient of the change in N moment with respect to yaw rate r (unitless) = coefficient of the change in N moment with respect to rudder deflection (unitless) = coefficient of the change in Y force with respect to sideslip angle β (unitless) = coefficient of the change in Y force at the tail with respect to sideslip angle β (unitless) = coefficient of the change in Y force with respect to roll rate p (unitless) = coefficient of the change in Y force with respect to yaw rate r (unitless) = coefficient of the change in Y force with respect to rudder deflection (unitless) F d = 6x1 dynamics force vector G = 6x1 gravitational and buoyancy forces vector I x ,I z = actual ...

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“…Consequently, the low power requirement for level flight is the key reason airships are often proposed as the best method of aerial exploration for Titan. 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Development of an Analytical Parameterized Linear Lateral Dynamic Model for an Aerobot Airship

Kulczycki

Bayard

Koehler

et al. 2011

AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Buoyant aerial vehicles are potential candidates for future space missions, as these vehicles can provide extensive, low-altitude geographical coverage over multi-month time scales with minimal power at low costs on planets and moons with a significant atmosphere [1]. The details of other aerial vehicles that have been suggested for different atmospheric bodies can be found in [2][3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balloon Design for Mars, Venus, and Titan Atmospheres

Garg

Kühn

2020

Applied Sciences

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This paper studies the specifications of balloons for the exploration of bodies with different atmospheric conditions. Three types of balloons, i.e., zero-pressure, super-pressure, and over-pressurized, with four different shapes, i.e., sphere, oblate, prolate, and airship, were analysed. First, the development of a simulation tool is described, which was used for analysing the behaviour of balloons for different exploration missions. Next, the developed software was verified by comparing its output with recorded data from a set of flights at the Esrange Space Center. Based on the simulation results, recommendations are given for different balloon types and shapes for operation on Mars, Venus, and Titan.

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Navigation and Perception for an Autonomous Titan Aerobot

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Development of an Analytical Parameterized Linear Lateral Dynamic Model for an Aerobot Airship

Development of an Analytical Parameterized Linear Lateral Dynamic Model for an Aerobot Airship

Balloon Design for Mars, Venus, and Titan Atmospheres

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