AIX Katana | Advanced Aircraft Configuration – Ein Studentenprojekt der FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences

 

A_Katana

AIX Katana

Advanced-Katana is an affiliated project of Advanced Aircraft Configuration and is centered on design, construction and operation of a remote controlled flight test platform. The platform is based on a Sebart Katana S120.

The aircraft is equipped with state of the art sensors, instrumentation and an inertial measurement unit (Crossbow). With the help of the flight test platform a flight control system is being developed that will allow us to stabilize dynamically unstable aircraft configurations. The fundamental principles for a non linear simulation model were established over the course of several final theses. In combination with system identification this is essential for the development of a flight control system.

The flight test platform Katana shown below has already completed several successful test flights. During these the model was excited by an Embedded-Microcontroller in various modes (3-2-1-1, frequency sweep etc.) and the resulting motions were recorded. The analysis of this data serves to identify the system and is currently being conducted in the course of a thesis. At the same time design of a Fly-by-Wire-System System on a microcontroller is under way. The aim in designing this system is to prevent the aircraft entering undesirable flight conditions (for instance to high load factors). Based on this an autopilot will be developed. This will allow the aircraft to fly to specific GPS-coordinates and perform autonomous take-offs and landings. The knowledge gained during this project can then be used to develop a flight control system that allows us stabilize unstable aircraft configurations.

Due to the limited budget during the initial project phase the first model only had a wing span of approximately 2m. Tests have shown that wing loading is very high due to the high take off mass (approx. 8kg = 4.5 kg aircraft + 3.5 kg equipment). Therefore construction of a second test platform based on a larger model (approx. 3m wing span) is planned. In preparation for this work is currently underway to integrate the majority of the required sensors and measuring technology into the Flight-Box IT. This will allow for a more flexible operation in various flight test platforms. The team is currently searching for a suitable model aircraft, propulsion system and highly accurate sensors and instrumentation.