Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Jay P Wilhelm

Abstract

A Hybrid Projectile (HP) is a tube launched munition that transforms into a gliding UAV, and is currently being researched at West Virginia University. A simple launch timer was first envisioned to control the transformation point in order to achieve maximum distance. However, this timer would need to be reprogrammed for any distance less than maximum range due to the nominal time to deployment varying with launch angle. A method was sought for automatic wing deployment that would not require reprogramming the round. A body angle estimation system was used to estimate the pitch of the HP relative to the Earth to determine when the HP is properly oriented for the designed glide slope angle. It was also necessary to filter out noise from a simulated inertial measurement unit (IMU), GPS receiver, and magnetometer. An Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) was chosen to estimate the Euler angles, position and velocity of the HP while an algorithm determined when to deploy the wings. A parametric study was done to verify the optimum deployment condition using a Simulink aerodynamic model. Because range is directly related to launch angle, various launch angles were simulated in the model. By fixing the glide slope angle to -10° as a deployment condition for all launch angles, the range differed only by a maximum of 6.1% from the maximum possible range. Based on these findings, the body angle deployment condition provides the most flexible option to maintain maximum distance without the need of reprogramming. Position and velocity estimates were also determined from the EKF using the GPS measurements. Simulations showed that the EKF estimates exhibited low root mean squared error values, corresponding to less than 3% of the total position values. Because the HP was in flight for less than a minute in this experiment, the drift encountered was acceptable.

Download

Share

COinS