In this paper, we study the problem of controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to provide a target supervision and/or to provide convoy protection to ground vehicles. We first present a control strategy based upon a Lyapunov-LaSalle stabilization method to provide supervision of a stationary target. The UAV is expected to join a pre-designed admissible circular trajectory around the target...

This paper presents the design and simulation of an intelligent fuzzy controller to control the flight movement of an airplane being present in the midst of targeted missiles. The objective is to have the in-flight airplane, when an imminent collision danger occurs, move in a direction so as to avoid being hit by any of the targeted missiles. The airplane senses the environment around it, acqui...

This paper studies the scaling of airplane dynamic response to stochastic wind gusts, with focus on the relationship between airplane size and airspeed variations. The results have applications in the design and control of small-scale aircraft for robustness with respect to turbulence. Using linearized equations of motion and the Dryden model of gusts, the paper presents analytical and numerica...

Information from the sky is important for rescue activity in large-scale disaster or dangerous areas. Observation system using a balloon or an airplane has been studied as an information gathering system from the sky. A balloon observation system needs helium gas and relatively long time to be ready. An airplane observation system can be prepared in a short time and its mobility is good. Howeve...

Every airplane has an associated external flow field that is extraordinarily rich in terms of its flow physics. It is intuitively obvious that the shape and configuration of the airplane influences the external flow physics, and the nature of the flow field influences the aerodynamic performance. An airplane is designed to perform optimally under certain operating conditions. Its aerodynamic pe...

The future “eEnabled” airplane, capable of participating as an intelligent node in a global information network, is a cyber-physical system (CPS) that requires real-time, continuous and concurrent monitoring as well as control. Vulnerabilities, however, can emerge from the integration of the eEnabled airplane with cyberinfrastructure such as the onboard embedded systems, the ground IT systems a...