Cooperative Docking Guidance and Control with Application to Civil Autonomous Aerial Refueling
- 1 September 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics
- Vol. 44 (9), 1638-1648
- https://doi.org/10.2514/1.g004425
Abstract
This paper proposes a novel concept for automatic docking of a boom-receptacle aerial refueling system adequate for civil aerial transportation. The receiving aircraft is assumed to keep straight and steady flight, and the docking maneuver is performed exclusively by the tanker and its boom system. As opposed to the conventional approach, the docking maneuver consists in a coordinated and guided motion of the tanker and the boom arm that is simultaneous with the extension of the nozzle tip. To achieve this, a cooperative guidance algorithm is derived in a systematic manner. The first step is to reduce the docking problem to a planar kinematic guidance problem. Subsequently, the cooperative guidance law algorithm is derived and applied to generate commands for the inner-loop controllers of the tanker aircraft and the boom. The ability to achieve successful docking is demonstrated using numerical simulations, and advantages of this concept are highlighted using a comparison with a baseline controller that uses separated control of the tanker and the boom in a sequential manner.Keywords
Funding Information
- German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (I-1268-405.10/2014)
This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Optimal Rendezvous Guidance Laws with Application to Civil Autonomous Aerial RefuelingJournal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2018
- Collaborative Control in a Flying-Boom Aerial Refueling SimulationJournal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2015
- Effect of Trail Aircraft Trim on Optimum Location in Formation FlightJournal of Aircraft, 2015
- Tanker Mission Implication on a Civil Aerial Refuelling Transport System’s Benefit EvaluationJournal of Aircraft, 2015
- Inviscid Analysis of Extended-Formation FlightAIAA Journal, 2013
- Boom and Receptacle Autonomous Air Refueling Using Visual Snake Optical SensorJournal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2007
- Aerodynamics of Formation FlightJournal of Aircraft, 2006
- Operations and aircraft design towards greener civil aviation using air-to-air refuellingThe Aeronautical Journal, 2006
- Aerial Refueling Implications for Commercial AviationJournal of Aircraft, 2005
- Modern Adaptation of Prandtl's Classic Lifting-Line TheoryJournal of Aircraft, 2000