Aircraft Control - mathemas ordinate

The toolbox is used worldwide by leading research and industrial organizations. The latest version brings many new features, including sophisticated gas turbine engine performance and analysis tools, new aircraft models and new aircraft performance tools.

NEW in 3.5: Airship functions from PSatellite recent SBIR in the field; upgraded dynamics engine for all aircraft simulations; improved aircraft trim functionality.

Applications

Aircraft control system design.
Nonlinear aircraft simulation.
Airship modeling and simulation.
Performance analysis.
Aircraft design.
Trade studies.
Visualization.

Key Features

Aircraft dynamics modeling, including flexibility, actuator, sensor and engine dynamics.
Actuator and sensor models.
Integrated nonlinear simulation with built-in linearization and trimming-add as many degrees of freedom as necessary to simulate your actuators, sensors and engines.
Dynamic models can be plugged into the core simulation for easy expansion.
Models for subsonic and supersonic aircraft with all data contained in a convenient database format.
Aircraft control system design and analysis tools, including classical, eigenstructure assignment, output feedback and many other design methodologies.
Atmospheric modeling, including disturbances such as wind gusts.
Extensive suite of modeling, design analysis and simulation tools for lighter-than-air vehicles.
Gas turbine engine models.
Aircraft computer aided design tools-assemble aircraft from components such as sensors, actuators and aerodynamic surfaces.
Import aircraft geometry from AutoCAD DXF and Wavefront OBJ files.
Export aircraft models in MultiVehicleSim CAD and Wavefront OBJ format.
Full source code for every function-nothing is hidden.
Supports UNIX, Windows, MacOS 9 and MacOS X.
Works with MATLAB 5.2 and above.
Comprehensive textbook on aircraft control and dynamic (Available soon).
Free technical support.

Examples

Eigenstructure Design of an Aircraft Controller

This example is drawn from Stevens and Lewis, "Aircraft Control and Simulation." A CCV aircraft is controlled using full-state feedback with a controller designed through eigenstructure analysis. Eigenstructure analysis allows the designer to select both the closed loop eigenvalues and part of the closed loop eigenstructure. This technique has been applied to many designs, including an A-10 flight/fire control system.

The eigenvectors are shown above as an example of one of the many graphical design tools available as part of the toolbox.

Gas Turbine Engine Analysis

The gas turbine performance and analysis tools include ramjets, turbojets, dual spool turbojets, turbofans, turboprops and mixed flow turbofans. Afterburners are built in to the turbojet and turbofan modes. The example shown on the right gives the specific thrust of a turbofan engine over a range of Mach numbers. You can study an engine's performance by varying any two parameters at a time. Engine models can be ideal or include component efficiencies. Study of off-nominal performance can be done with the performance analysis functions.

Aircraft Performance Analysis

The Breguet range equation is one of the performance analysis tools. The demo to the right was run by just typing BrequetRangeEquation at the MATLAB command prompt. It shows that the maximum range of the Concorde can be achieved when it flies near Mach 1.35.

Optimal Helicopter Control

The example to the right is taken from Bryson, "Control of Spacecraft and Aircraft." An optimal controller is applied to the problem of helicopter hover. The simulation is run through the toolbox GUIs, which show an animation of the helicopter motion. The simulation may also be run in batch mode for increased speed. Notice that the HUD includes cyclic and collective pitch controls! The controller uses cyclic, collective, throttle and tail rotor collective to maintain a stable hover. The model used is a linearized model of the helicopter model. Nonlinear models are available in the companion package, MultiVehicleSim.

Princeton Satellite