DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXPENDABLE GLIDER SYSTEM

DISPERSING SONAR BUOYS OVER A TWO-DIMENSIONAL OCEAN AREA WOULD BE FACILITATED IF SOME OF THE BUOYS WOULD GLIDE PERPENDICULAR TO THE FLIGHT PATH OF THE DISPENSING AIRPLANE. TO DEVELOP THE TECHNOLOGY FOR THIS LATERAL FLIGHT, A PROGRAM IS PROPOSED WHICH, AFTER OUR INTER-ACTIONS WITH THE SPONSOR ON PATTERN SHAPE AND ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS, 1) EXPLORES VARIOUS CONFIGURATION CHANGES WHICH WOULD PROVIDE A GLIDE RATIO EXCEEDING 1:1 FOR A VEHICLE HAVING SPIRAL STABILITY; 2) INVESTIGATES METHODS FOR GUIDING THE VEHICLE APPROXIMATELY ALONG THE PERPENDICULAR; 3) TESTS SOME CANDIDATE VEHICLES TO ESTABLISH HOW WELL THEY ACHIEVE (1) AND ESTABLISH IF THEY CAN FLY STRAIGHT ENOUGH TO SIMPLIFY (2) WITHOUT RESOURCE TO ACTIVE CONTROL; AND THEN 4) PRESENTS RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT THE BEST WAY TO MOVE TOWARD THE GOAL OF A VERY INEXPENSIVE DEVICE. THERE ARE MANY TRADEOFFS BETWEEN THE REQUIRED PATTERN, THE MODIFIED BUOY CONFIGURATION, AND THE TECHNIQUES FOR ACHIEVING STABILITY AND CONTROL, ALL CONSIDERED WITHIN A FRAMEWORK OF RELIABILITY AND LOW COSTS IN MASS PRODUCTION. THUS THIS IS TO BE AN INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PROGRAM, WITH A STRONG EMPHASIS ON INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS.