This proposal introduces an approach to aeroservoelastic control that provides enhanced robustness to unmodeled dynamics. The core of the approach is a processing element, designed by the embedded-systems expertise at Prioria Robotics, that provides measurement and signal processing and even control commands from localized stations throughout a structure. An architecture is formulated that utilizes these distributed elements to provide information about the adverse aeroservoelastic effects, such as frequencies and damping and even mode shapes, to modify control commands and achieve desired performance characteristics. The research team has extensive expertise in the analysis, simulation, and flight testing of aircraft with novel configurations, including flexible wings, morphing aircraft, and reconfigurable designs. The proposed innovation is applicable to a wide range of aerospace applications including stratospheric UAVs and manned transport-category aircraft. The architecture enables closed-loop aeroservoelastic control or open-loop aeroelastic measurements and can be retrofit into an existing airframe and flight controller or integral to the design of a new aircraft. The Phase I objectives of the current proposal include the conceptual and initial design of a novel architecture for aeroelastic control. Initial effort involves requirements generation for the scalable architecture and dynamic simulation of a representative UAV wing. The architecture is implemented in hardware using modifications of existing electronic and airframe components.
