Faster Than The Speed Of Sound: New Control System Has What It Takes To Guide Experimental Aircraft

Faster Than The Speed Of Sound: New Control System Has What It Takes To Guide Experimental Aircraft

X-43A Hypersonic Experimental Vehicle -- Artist Concept in Flight. Credit: NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF SOUND: NEW CONTROL SYSTEM HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO GUIDE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When a jet is flying faster than the speed of sound, one small mistake can tear it apart. And when the jet is so experimental that it must fly unmanned, only a computer control system can pilot it. Ohio State University engineers have designed control system software that can do just that -- by adapting to changing conditions during a flight. Andrea Serrani Lisa Fiorentini Government agencies have been developing faster-than-sound vehicles for decades. The latest supersonic combustion ramjets -- called scramjets -- scoop oxygen from the air to ignite on-board fuel, and could one day carry people to space or around the world in a matter of hours. The recent success of NASA’s X-43 hypersonic jet has spurred research into the control systems for these vehicles, said Lisa Fiorentini, doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State University. She and associate professor Andrea Serrani are developing a new control system in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (ARFL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. In the current issue of the Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, they report that their controller performed flawlessly in computer simulations of flight maneuvers. CLICK HERE to read more