FINAL PROJECT

Short Period Oscillation Control of an

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

DIGITAL FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEMS

AER E 576

ADRIN ISSAI ARASU L

Short Period Oscillation Control of an

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
INTRODUCTION
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have contributed significantly
in many areas like combat, reconnaissance, and civil and commercial
applications. Though UAVs have wide range of applications, its poor
reliability and control, reduced autonomy and operator workload
requirements of current unmanned vehicles present a roadblock to
their success. Main objective of this project is to minimize the
maximum amplitude in short period oscillation and settling time of the
system. Furthermore, effects of controller on short period oscillations
control are analyzed.
Short period oscillations are heavily damped oscillations that last
for a period of few seconds. The motion is a rapid pitching of the
aircraft about the center of gravity. The oscillation is essentially an
angle of attack variation with speed and altitude of the aircraft being
constant. A disturbed flight consists of short period oscillations, and
long period oscillations called Phugoid mode. It is a difficult task to
resolve and isolate the short period mode, which is of importance in
this project. Short period oscillation transfer function is derived from
longitudinal equations of motion with some approximations to simplify
the problem and to eliminate the Phugoid mode.

NOMENCLATURE
M
m
U
Iy

e
c
S
Q
Cxu

Mach number
mass of the aircraft = 11611.965 Kg
Velocity of the aircraft along X-axis = 182.62 m/s
Moment of Inertia = 3.5x106 Kg/m2
Angle of attack
Elevator deflection
Chord of the airfoil = 6.1 m
200 m2
Dynamic Pressure (Altitude = 55,000 ft) = 1000 kg/ms
variation of drag and thrust with u = -2CD = -0.088

Cx

- variation of drag and lift along X-axis = 0.392

Cz

- variation of drag and lift along X-axis = -1.13

Cz
Czq
Czu
Cmq

Downwash lag on lift of tail = -4.46

effect of pitch rate on lift = -3.94
variation of normal force with u = -1.48
Damping in pitch = -11.4

Cm

- Static Longitudinal Stability = -0.619

Cm

- Downwash lag on moment = -3.27

TRANSFER FUNCTION
Transfer functions for this system are derived from longitudinal
equations of motion of an aircraft. Longitudinal equations of motion are
based on three very important assumptions.
Mass of the aircraft is assumed to be constant.
Aircraft is considered to be rigid. i.e. Aeroelastic deformations are
neglected.
Quasisteady flow All derivatives with respect to rate of change
of velocities are neglected except for those with respect to
downwash velocity w.
The longitudinal equations of motion is given as follows

Substituting the values in the above equation yields

(10.6s+0.088)u(s) 0.392(s)+0.74(s) = 0
1.48u(s) + (10.61887s+4.46)(s)+0.5434s(s) = 0
(0.0546s+0.619)(s)+(2.868s2+0.19)(s) = 0
The characteristic equation of the system is given by
S4+0.4472s3+0.2847s2+0.03s+0.0002365 = 0
(s2+0.008s+0.000627)( s2+0.4392s+0.2489) = 0
The equation is of the form (s2+pnps+np2) (s2+snss+ns2) =
0
Therefore, for short period oscillation,
n = 0.498898
0.5 rad/s
= 0.44016
And for Phugoid mode,
n = 0.02504 rad/s

= 0.0159

SHORT PERIOD APPROXIMATION

As the short period approximation occurs at a constant speed,
u=0. So the equation reduces to

The characteristic equation becomes

s2+0.508s+0.8474 = 0
(s) 1.2535(s+ 0.4207)
=
e (s) s(s 2+ 0.508 s+ 0.8474)
The block diagram of the system is given below

DISCRETE SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS

The root locus plot for the open loop system is given by

The bode plot and step response of the system is shown in the
fig. above. The settling time for the plant is approximately 20s. The
discrete transfer function for the system sampled at T = 1s is given by
0.4565 z2 + 0.1383 z - 0.2875
---------------------------------z3 - 1.983 z2 + 1.584 z - 0.6017

Closed loop discrete transfer function is given by

0.1969 z3 0.6084 z2 + 0.2971 z - 0.123
.
z4 + (0.1969k-2.983) z3- (3.567-0.6084k) z2 + (0.2971k-2.186) z +
(0.123k+0.6017)
The range of k is found using Jurys stability test

The range of K is

Q(1) 0
(-1)n Q(1) 0
Ia0I an
43582<k <1.519

The step response for partially stable gain K = 1.519 is given above.
The settling time for the system is approximately 35s. It is higher when
compared to the open loop configuration.

PHASE LAG COMPENSATOR

A phase lag compensator is designed for the system. Phase
margin is chosen to be 42.75. The transfer function of the controller is
given by
D (z )=

0.58 (z0.9512)
z0.9729

The step response of the system with phase lag compensator is not
convincing as the oscillation amplitude is lower and the settling time is
approximately 25s.

PHASE LEAD COMPENSATOR

A phase lead compensator is designed for the system. The
transfer function of the controller is given by
D (z )=

1 .514 (z0. 394 2)

z0.1273

The step response of the system with phase lead compensator is not
better compared to phase lag compensator. The oscillation amplitude
is higher and the settling time is approximately 40s.

CONCLUSION
From the results, it can be concluded that phase lag
compensator is better than other controllers considered in this project.
It is evident from lower settling time and minimum oscillation
amplitude. Some valuable information and data about longitudinal
stability control for Global Hawk (UAV) were not available. So,
approximate values were chosen which might have had some effects in
the results. In future, this project can be extended for accurate analysis
of stability control.

REFERENCES

Modeling and Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Current

Status and Future Directions by George Vachtsevanos, Ben
Ludington, Johan Reimann, Georgia Institute of Technology Panos
Antsaklis, Notre Dame University Kimon Valavanis, University of
South Florida
An Intelligent Approach to Coordinated Control of Multiple
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, by Vachtsevanos, G., Tang, L. and
Reimann, J.
Analysis of Short-period Longitudinal Oscillations of an Aircraft Interpretation of Flight Tests By S. NEUMARK, Techn.Sc.D.,
A.F.R.Ae.8.