Aerodynamics State Sensing for Hypersonic Flight Control using Plasma Sensors, Data Fusion, and Modeling

The hypersonic flow regime introduces many unique phenomena (e.g., chemical disassociation, ablations, plasma, etc.), that make it difficult to understand the aerodynamic state (e.g., air speed, angle of attack (AOA), angle of sideslip (AOS), air density, air temperature, etc.) due to a lack of non-intrusive flight sensors that can survive the environment. However, for control, it is imperative to understand the aerodynamic state as these values have significance on the aerodynamic forces of flight and ergo the required control inputs. Improved accuracy of these values will reduce uncertainty and allow designers to reduce necessary factor of safeties, ultimately leading to larger flight envelopes and improved vehicle performance. To address this need for improved knowledge of the aerodynamic state using non-intrusive, flight measurements, SE proposes to develop a sensor network comprised of state-of-the-art sensors, like its plasma probe, and traditional sensors, couple with unique data fusion algorithms to estimate the state. During Phase I, SE will define the flight conditions, evaluate existing air data approaches, and develop and demonstrate approaches that improve upon the current methods. During Phase II, the team will fully develop and design the air data system, demonstrate the system, and develop a test plan to validate the system.