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Control techniques for autonomous launching of ship-based unmanned air vehicles (UAVs)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

M. R. Crump
Affiliation:
Sir Lawrence Wackett Centre for Aerospace Design Technology, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
C. Bil
Affiliation:
Sir Lawrence Wackett Centre for Aerospace Design Technology, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

Autonomous shipboard launching of UAVs in a hostile atmospheric environment would greatly extend the usefulness of these aircraft. Currently a majority of UAVs are remotely launched under limited conditions. This paper presents control and guidance strategies that will allow autonomous launching under a much greater set of atmospheric hazards. Two modern control techniques are compared for use in this case. The main problem when dealing with low speed UAVs is found to be high steady winds causing stall. Several strategies are presented that can allow stall to be avoided and recovered.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2002 

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