Enabling Technology for a Fixed Wing Hovering UAV

Fixed wing aircraft may be made to perform helicopter-like hovering maneuvers by equipping them with powerful engines yielding thrust greater than weight. Such aircraft have the high speed dash performance of a fixed wing combined with the hovering/staring capability of a helicopter. A UAV equipped with this technology would have unprecedented versatility on the battlefield, being able to rapidly transport a sensor to a target area, and provide uninterrupted staring capability upon arrival. The articulated rotor controls of a helicopter are not required. The UAV uses conventional aileron, rudder and elevator actuated by propeller blast with innovative control algorithms. This research will develop enabling technology for a hovering UAV, including systems studies, dynamics modeling, control algorithm synthesis, and 6-DOF simulations. The development is expedited by building on the results of previous research by the investigators in autonomous miniature reconnaissance helicopters for operation in urban battlefields. Phase I will focus on analysis and simulations whose validation will be obtained by instrumenting an inexpensive model airplane as a hovering dynamics testbed to obtain actual flight data. Phase II will develop a dual mode autopilot (forward flight and hovering) for a proof of concept demonstration.