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Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory

Texas A&M University College of Engineering

Research

List of Research Grants and Awards:

Payload Directed Flight

Intelligent and Safe Technologies for Enhanced UAS Autonomous Air Refueling Operations, Phase I

Air Force Research Laboratory through sub-contract with Barron Associates

1 September 2017 – 30 April 2018

Total award $49,982

Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) platforms provide many important military roles that require long periods of time aloft.  Repeated returns to base for refueling is one scenario that can severely degrade mission operations.  There is a critical need to develop autonomous aerial refueling (AAR) capabilities in which both the tanker and receiver aircraft are unmanned.  One of the challenges in AAR is minimum airspeed. For this effort the focus will be Groups 4 and 5 UASs with maximum airspeeds of 130 KCAS. The main objective is to radically increase mission length and on-station availability of UAS platforms by developing the capability to reliably conduct (AAR) of Groups 4 and 5 UASs with calibrated airspeeds of 130 KCAS or less.

Additional key technical challenges associated with AAR of UAS are:

  1. The refueling procedure will require the UAS to operate in close proximity of the tanker aircraft. Relative location must be known with a high level of accuracy, employing collision avoidance procedures.
  2. One or both the tanker and UAS must respond quickly if an unsafe refueling condition occurs.
  3. AAR solutions should minimize modifications to both the tanker and the UAS due to cost, maintenance and SWaP considerations.
  4. The refueling system must operate under broad weather and day and night conditions.

Working with me on this project are:

Graduate Students:

    -Zeke Bowden, MENG  AERO

Research by Subject

  • Machine Learning
  • Dynamic Inversion
  • Flight Test
  • Morphing Aerostructures
  • Simulation
  • Adaptive Flight Control
  • Autonomy
  • Autonomous Aerial Refueling
  • Control Theory
  • Headworn Display
  • Intelligent Motion Video Target Tracking
  • Payload Directed Flight
  • Precision Agriculture
  • Stability
  • Fasteners
  • Pneumatic Vortex Control
  • Re-entry Vehicles
  • Optical Landing System
  • Cockpit Display
  • Intelligent Systems
  • Education
  • Cooperative Control
  • Bio-Nano Materials
  • Autonomous Airports
  • Nanotechnology
  • Icing Effects
  • Reaction Control System
  • Active Flow Control
  • Pinpoint Landings
  • Model Estimation
  • Fault Tolerant
  • Crew Exploration Vehicle
  • Micro Air Vehicles
  • Optimal Trajectories
  • Two-Time Scale Control
  • Modeling
  • Weather Technology
  • Infrastructure Assessment
  • Derived Angle-of-Attack
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