NASA RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (NRA) IN SOLICITATION NNH07ZEA001N. FCSR TASK ORDER TITLE: "VERIFIABLE ADAPTIVE…

Public award description

NASA RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (NRA) IN SOLICITATION NNH07ZEA001N. FCSR TASK ORDER TITLE: "VERIFIABLE ADAPTIVE CONTROL: ANALYSIS AND DESIGN". BACKGROUND: THIS EFFORT FALLS UNDER THE NASA INTEGRATED RESILIENT AIRCRAFT CONTROL (IRAC) PROJECT. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ARRIVE AT A SET OF VALIDATED MULTIDISCIPLINARY INTEGRATED AIRCRAFT CONTROL DESIGN TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR ENABLING SAFE FLIGHT IN THE PRESENCE OF ADVERSE CONDITIONS (E.G., FAULTS, DAMAGE AND/OR UPSETS). THE OBJECTIVE IS TO ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART OF ADAPTIVE CONTROLS AS A DESIGN OPTION TO PROVIDE ENHANCED STABILITY AND MANEUVERABILITY MARGINS FOR SAFE LANDING. THE IRAC PROJECT'S TECHNICAL APPROACH IS RELATIVE TO THE FOLLOWING FOUR LEVELS OF RESEARCH DEFINED BY THE AERONAUTICS RESEARCH MISSION DIRECTORATE (ARMD). 1. FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH (LEVEL 1) FOCUSES ON FUNDAMENTAL THEORY AND METHODS FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF ADVERSE CONDITIONS, THEORETICAL ADVANCES IN ADAPTIVE CONTROL, INTELLIGENT PLANNING AND GUIDANCE, AND RELEVANT CONTROL METRICS FOR MEASURING AVAILABLE STABILITY AND CONTROLLABILITY MARGINS. FUNDAMENTAL THEORY AND METHODS WILL BE DEVELOPED IN: (1) PHYSICS-BASED COMPUTATIONAL MODELING OF FLUID, STRUCTURAL, AND ENGINE DYNAMICS TO CHARACTERIZE THE EFFECTS OF ADVERSE CONDITIONS, (2) CONTROL UNDER ADVERSE CONDITIONS, (3) EXPERIMENTAL METHODS FOR TESTING UNDER THESE CONDITIONS, AND THE VALIDATION AND VERIFICATION OF ADAPTIVE AND LEARNING SYSTEMS. 2. DISCIPLINE RESEARCH (LEVEL 2) FOCUSES ON METHODS AND TOOLS THAT ARE REQUIRED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED MODELING, CONTROL, AND RESPONSE PREDICTION METHODOLOGIES FOR ADVERSE EVENTS. THE RESEARCH DISCIPLINES INCLUDE: INTEGRATED DYNAMICS AND FLIGHT CONTROL; INTEGRATED PROPULSION CONTROLS AND DYNAMICS; AIRFRAME & STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS; INTELLIGENT FLIGHT PLANNING AND GUIDANCE; AND VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION METHODS AND TESTBEDS. 3. MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH (LEVEL 3) FOCUSES ON STABILITY, MANEUVERABILITY, AND SAFE LANDING USING FLIGHT CONTROL TO PREVENT AND/OR MANEUVER SAFELY AFTER AN ADVERSE EVENT. TO ACHIEVE THIS, INTEGRATED ADAPTIVE AIRCRAFT CONTROL FOR STABILITY AND SAFE MANEUVERABILITY, INTEGRATED ADAPTIVE MISSION MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR SAFE FLIGHT, AND VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM ARE IDENTIFIED AS KEY ELEMENTS. 4. SYSTEM LEVEL RESEARCH (LEVEL 4) ACTIVITIES FOCUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY INTEGRATED METHODS, TOOLS, AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR ACHIEVING CONTROL RESILIENCE UNDER ADVERSE CONDITIONS AND THE VALIDATION OF INTEGRATED IRAC TECHNOLOGIES USING SIMULATION AND VEHICLE TEST BEDS, AND TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS DEFINITIONS BASED ON ACCIDENT/INCIDENT ANALYSES, COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY EVALUATIONS, AND PARTNERING. THIS RESEARCH EFFORT FALLS PRIMARILY UNDER FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH AT LEVEL 1 WITH SOME LEVEL 2 WORK AND IS AN INTEGRAL RESEARCH COMPONENT OF THE OVERALL PROJECT CONTENT. IT HAS BEEN DEFINED TO CONTRIBUTE TO PRIMARY TECHNOLOGY NEEDS, ADVANCING THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN ADAPTIVE CONTROL FOR PILOTED AIRCRAFT, AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROJECT'S APPLICATION FOCUS ON MULTIDISCIPLINARY INTEGRATED AIRCRAFT CONTROL DESIGN SYNTHESIS. THIS EFFORT ALSO INCLUDES THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL METRICS AND ASSOCIATED TOOLS FOR EVALUATING ADAPTIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS. SCOPE: THIS EFFORT IS FOR THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF NEW TECHNIQUES AND ALGORITHMS FOR ADAPTIVE FLIGHT CONTROL. BASED ON THE ROBUSTNESS STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE METRICS FOR ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS DEVELOPED UNDER THIS PROGRAM, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PERFORM RIGOROUS EVALUATIONS OF ADVANCED ADAPTIVE FLIGHT CONTROL LAWS DESIGNED TO MITIGATE OFF-NOMINAL CONDITIONS AND DOCUMENT THE RESULTS IN ANNUAL TECHNICAL REPORTS. OBJECTIVES: THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS TOOLS WHICH CAN BE EFFECTIVELY USED TO DESIGN AND VERIFY ADAPTIVE CONTROL LAWS. IN ORDER TO MEET THIS GOAL, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PERFORM RESEARCH ON THE FOLLOWING FUNDAMENTAL T