Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Objectives

  • Static and dynamic analysis of aircraft motion
    • Learn how to identify the basic mode of the vehicle dynamics

  • Sensors/actuators/dynamics/control simulation
    • Analyze the entire control system

  • Classical and state space control approaches
    • Multi-loop design techniques

  • Example driven
    • Hands-on project
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF LECTURES TOPICS
2 Static Analysis
6 Dynamic Analysis
2 Key Stability Derivatives
2 Modeling and System ID
2 Introduction to State Space Control Techniques
3 Longitudinal Autopilot
3 Lateral Autopilot

Grading

ACTIVITIES PERCENTAGES
Homework 40%
Midterm 30%
Final Project 30%

Homework

Problem sets out every other Tuesday (due 2 weeks later at 5 pm).

Midterm

In class (1 sheet).

Final Project

Equivalent to 2-3 homeworks. Short in-class presentation at the end. Possible topics:

  • System ID UAV-TT or UAV-MC from flight data and compare with expectations
  • Evaluate the stability derivatives of the UAV-MC (or your favorite airplane)
  • Design a longitudinal/lateral/path following autopilot for the UAV-MC and demonstrate
    its performance in AEROSIMTM
  • Your suggestion

Textbooks

Recommended: Buy at Amazon Etkin, Bernard, and Lloyd Duff Reid. Dynamics of Flight: Stability and Control. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley, 1995. ISBN: 0471034185.

Recommended: Buy at Amazon Nelson, Robert C. Flight Stability and Automatic Control. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 1997. ISBN: 0070462739.

Recommended: Buy at Amazon Cook, M. V. Flight Dynamics Principles. London: Arnold, 1997. ISBN: 0340632003.

Buy at Amazon Perkins, C., and R. Hage. Airplane Performance Stability and Control. 1st ed. New York: Wiley, 1949. ISBN: 047168046X.

Buy at Amazon Stevens, B., and F. Lewis. Aircraft Control and Simulation. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 2003. ISBN: 0471371459.

Buy at Amazon Blakelock, John H. Automatic Control of Aircraft and Missiles. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1991. ISBN: 0471506516.

Buy at Amazon Collinson, R. P. G. Introduction to Avionics Systems. 2nd ed. New York: Springer, 2002. ISBN: 1402072783.

Buy at Amazon Franklin, Gene F., J. David Powell, and Abbas Emami-Naeini. Feedback Control of Dynamic Systems. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. ISBN: 0130323934.

Buy at Amazon McRuer, Duane, Irving Ashkenas, and Dunstan Graham. Aircraft Dynamics and Automatic Control. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973. ISBN: 0691080836.

Buy at Amazon Roskam, Jan. Airplane Flight Dynamics and Automatic Flight Controls. Lawrence, KS: Darcorporation, 2001. ISBN: 1884885179.

Buy at Amazon Bryson, Arthur E. Control of Spacecraft and Aircraft. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. ISBN: 0691087822.

Buy at Amazon Abzug, M., and E. Larrabee. Airplane Stability and Control. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN: 0521809924.

Buy at Amazon McCormick, B. Aerodynamics, Aeronautics, and Flight Mechanics. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 1994. ISBN: 0471575062.