• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.121-128
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• 2008

This paper describes the modeling and autopilot design procedure of a Blended Wing-Body(BWB) UAV. The BWB UAV is a tailless design that integrates the wing and the fuselage. This configuration shows some aerodynamic advantages of lower wetted area to volume ratio and lower interference drag as compared to conventional type UAV. Also, BWB UAV may be increase payload capacity and flight range. However, despite of these benefits, this type of UAV presents several problems related to flying qualities, stability, and control. In this paper, the detailed modeling procedure of BWB UAV and stability analysis results using the linearized model at trim condition are represented. Finally, we designed the autopilot of BWB UAV based on a simple control allocation scheme and evaluated its performance through nonlinear simulation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2018

This paper presents a neural network controller design for complex damage to a blended wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV): partial loss of main wing and vertical tail. Longitudinal/lateral axis instability and the change of flight dynamics is investigated via numerical simulation. Based on this, neural network based adaptive controller combined with two types of feedback linearization are designed in order to compensate for the complex damage. Performance of two kinds of dynamic inversion controllers is analyzed against complex damage. According to the structure of the dynamic inversion controller, the performance difference is confirmed in normal situation and under damaged situation. Numerical simulation verifies that the instability from the complex damage of the UAV can be stabilized via the proposed adaptive controller.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.114-120
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• 2008

In the vision-based recovery phase, a terminal guidance for the blended-wing UAV requires visual information of high accuracy. This paper presents the light source target design and detection algorithm for vision-based UAV recovery. We propose a recovery target design with red and green LEDs. This frame provides the relative position between the target and the UAV. The target detection algorithm includes HSV-based segmentation, morphology, and blob processing. These techniques are employed to give efficient detection results in day and night net recovery operations. The performance of the proposed target design and detection algorithm are evaluated through ground-based experiments.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.290-299
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• 2017

Reconfigurable flight control using various kinds of adaptive control methods has been studied since the 1970s to enhance the survivability of aircraft in case of severe in-flight failure. Early studies were mainly focused on the failure of actuators. Recently, studies of reconfigurable flight controls that can accommodate complex damage (partial wing and tail loss) in conventional aircraft were reported. However, the partial wing loss effects on the aerodynamics of conventional type aircraft are quite different to those of BWB(blended wing body) aircraft. In this paper, a reconfigurable flight control algorithm was designed using a direct model reference adaptive method to overcome the instability caused by a complex damage of a BWB aircraft. A model reference adaptive control was incorporated into the inner loop rate control system enhancing the performance of the baseline control to cope with abrupt loss of stability. Gains of the model reference adaptive control were polled out using the Liapunov's stability theorem. Outer loop attitude autopilot was designed to manage roll and pitch of the BWB UAV as well. A 6-DOF dynamic model was built-up, where the normal flight can be made to switch to the damaged state abruptly reflecting the possible real flight situation. 22% of right wing loss as well as 25% loss for both vertical tail and rudder control surface were considered in this study. Static aerodynamic coefficients were obtained via wind tunnel test. Numerical simulations were conducted to demonstrate the performance of the reconfigurable flight control system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.579-582
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• 2008

PEM Fuel cell system was designed and constructed to use as a power source of unmanned aerial vehicles(UAV) in the present study. Sodium borohydride was selected as a hydrogen source and was decomposed by catalytic hydrolysis reaction. Fuel cell system consists of a fuel cell stack, a hydrogen generation system(HGS), and power management system(PMS). HGS was composed of a catalytic reactor, micropump, fuel cartridge, and separator. Hybrid power system between lithium-polymer battery and fuel cell was developed. The fuel cell system was integrated and packaged into a blended wing-body UAV. Energy density of the total system was 1,000 $W{\cdot}hr/kg$ and high endurance more than 5 hours was accomplished in the ground tests.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.283-296
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• 2019

The influence of different planform parameters on the aerodynamic performance of large-scale subsonic and transonic Blended Wing Body (BWB) aircraft have gained comprehensive research in the recent years, however, it is not the case for small-size low subsonic speed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The present work numerically investigates aerodynamics governing four different trailing edge geometries characterizing BWB configurations in standard flight conditions at angles of attack from $-4^{\circ}$ to $22^{\circ}$ to provide generic information that can be essential for making well-informed decisions during BWB UAV conceptual design phase. Simulation results are discussed and comparatively analyzed with useful implications for formulation of proper mission profile specific to every BWB configuration.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.34-41
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• 2023

This paper applies the icing effect and wing rock uncertainty to small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which have recently attracted attention. Attitude control simulations were performed using various control methods. First, the selected platform, the Skywalker X8 UAV with blended wing-body (BWB) configuration, was linearized for both its baseline form, and a form with applied icing effects. Subsequently, using MATLAB SimulinkⓇ, simulations were conducted for roll and pitch attitude control of the baseline configuration and the configuration with icing effects, employing disturbance observer-based PID control, model reference adaptive control, and model predictive control. Furthermore, the study introduced wing rock uncertainty simultaneously with icing effects on the configured model-a combination not previously explored in existing research-and conducted simulations. The performance of each control Method was compared and analyzed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.422-428
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• 2019

A tailless or Blended-Wing-Body(BWB) shaped configuration is highlighted for UCAV with low RCS characteristics. The BWB configuration is characterized by its directional static instability and low controllability. To control the directional movement of the BWB configured vehicle, directional thrust vectoring equipment or drag rudder typed control surfaces which utilize the drag differences of the wing can be considered. This paper deals with a BWB shaped configuration using a spoiler and describes the lateral-directional aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle. In addition, it is shwon that the lateral-directional motion can be controlled effectively by using the classical PI control structure. This control law is verified by flight test and showed adequate for the tailless BWB shaped UAV.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.70-80
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• 2016

The comparison of two commercial codes(FLUENT and STAR-CCM+) and an open-source code(OpenFOAM) are carried out for the aerodynamic analysis of flight vehicles at low speeds. Tailless blended-wing-body UCAV, main wing and propeller of HALE UAV(EAV-3) are chosen as geometries for the investigation. Using the same mesh, incompressible flow simulations are carried out and the results from three different codes are compared. In the linear region, the maximum difference of lift and drag coefficients of UCAV are found to be less than 2% and 5 counts, respectively and shows good agreement with wind tunnel test data. In a stall region, however, the reliability of RANS simulation is found to become poor and the uncertainty according to code also increases. The effect of turbulence models and meshes generated from different tools are also examined. The transition model yields better results in terms of drag which are much closer to the test data. The pitching moment is confirmed to be sensitive to the existence and the location of transition. For the case of EAV-3 wing, the difference of results with ${\kappa}-{\omega}$ SST model is increased when Reynolds number becomes low. The results for the propeller show good agreement within 1% difference of thrust. The reliability and uncertainty of three codes is found to be reasonable for the purpose of engineering use. However, the physical validity and reliability of results seem to be carefully examined when ${\kappa}-{\omega}$ SST model is used for aerodynamic simulation at low speeds or low Reynolds number conditions.