### Longitudinal Control for Balloon-Borne Launched Solar Powered UAVs in Near-Space

HU Yanpeng1,2, GUO Jin1,2, MENG Wenyue3, LIU Guanyu3, XUE Wenchao4

1. 1. School of Automation and Electrical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China; 2. Key Laboratory of Knowledge Automation for Industrial Processes, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100083, China;3. Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; 4. Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
• Received:2021-08-16 Revised:2021-10-29 Online:2022-06-25 Published:2022-06-20
• Supported by:
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 62188101 and 12132002.

HU Yanpeng, GUO Jin, MENG Wenyue, LIU Guanyu, XUE Wenchao. Longitudinal Control for Balloon-Borne Launched Solar Powered UAVs in Near-Space[J]. Journal of Systems Science and Complexity, 2022, 35(3): 802-819.

Aiming to improve the pull-up control performance in the process of releasing balloonborne solar powered UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), this paper establishes the full flight mechanics equations with flexible modes, and proposes the control method suitable for engineering application. To be specific, the authors first calculate the real aerodynamic force on horizontal stabilizer by comparing the fuselage deformation in ballooning test with that in static loading test. Furthermore, considering fuselage elastic deformation, the pitching moment coefficient is obtained and the influence of airspeed and elevator angle on pitching moment coefficient and control surface efficiency are analysed. Second, the authors establish a complete flight mechanics model, including elastic structural dynamic model and rigid flight dynamic model, by comprehensively considering the aerodynamic data, the relationship between fuselage deformation and load, as well as the ballooning test. Third, the authors perform the numerical simulation and comparison study on control performance between rigid model and flexible model. Moreover, the authors implement model modification based on the low altitude flight test and steady-state point analysing. Finally, a scaled UAV is used to complete the balloon-borne launching test. The results show that the longitudinal control method can analyse the longitudinal aerodynamics and control characteristics accurately, and could be effectively utilized in the pull-up control of the balloon-borne solar powered UAV.
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