Parametric Study of Powered Parafoil Flight Dynamics

Abstract

Powered parafoils provide a unique capability to deliver large payloads with very short takeoff and landing field requirements. While these aircraft have been studied extensively in simulation, these simulations have focused on using only trailing edge brake deflection and throttle as control mechanisms. In addition, there is little actual flight test data available for these aircraft. The current work provides an examination of the flight dynamics of powered parafoils incorporating variable canopy incidence angle in addition to the standard control channels. Simulation results using a 9 degree of freedom model are presented, and it is the focus of an ongoing flight test program to validate these results. Nomenclatures coefficients for apparent mass and inertia b = Canopy span β = Sideslip angle P D C , = Payload drag coefficient i D i L C C , , , = Lift and drag coefficients of ith canopy element χ = Azimuth angle (course over ground) d = Canopy arc radius i δ = Dimensionless control deflection for the ith canopy element ] [I = Identity matrix ] [ T I = Total system inertia matrix AM AM AM N M L , , = Components of apparent mass moment vector in the body reference frame Λ = Canopy arc angular span m = Total system mass r q p , , = Angular velocity components in the body reference frame r q p, , = Angular velocity components in the canopy reference frame ψ θ φ , , = Euler roll, pitch and yaw angles ] [ ], [ C B S S ω ω = Skew symmetric cross product operator for angular velocity expressed in body and canopy frames ] [ , B M cg S = Skew symmetric cross product operator for distance vector from system CG to apparent mass center ] [ , B P cg S = Skew symmetric cross product operator for distance vector from system CG to payload ] [ , Bi cg S = Skew symmetric cross product operator for distance vector from system CG to ith canopy element

Visual simulation system design of soft-wing UAV based on FlightGear

“…In this paper, based on a real soft-wing UAV system, while considering the apparent mass, a mathematical model for soft-wing UAV with 6 degrees of freedom was constructed by using Newton Laws and the dynamic equations [3][4][5] . Fig.…”