Fixed-Wing UAV Off-Site Landing via Fault-Adaptive Stall Trajectory
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Solution Overview
Problem
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) face challenges in safely landing when experiencing component failures, as they often lack the capability to perform traditional landings, posing risks to people and property on the ground due to lower safety standards compared to manned aircraft.
Innovation Solution
A fixed-wing UAV system equipped with a failure detection system, capability evaluation system, and trajectory generation system that detects faults, determines a capability level, and generates a touchdown trajectory, including a stall maneuver to minimize lateral energy, allowing for off-site landings in safe locations to mitigate collateral damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional landing procedures are used, then the UAV can land at designated airports, but it cannot safely handle component failures, posing risks to people and property on the ground
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of component failures and pre-calculates alternative landing trajectories before the actual landing is needed. The failure detection system continuously monitors components, and when failures are detected, the capability evaluation system assesses the UAV's remaining capabilities and the trajectory generation system prepares appropriate landing paths in advance, allowing the UAV to safely execute off-site landings without risking damage to people and property
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts the landing trajectory based on the UAV's current capability level. When component failures occur, the system evaluates the degraded capabilities and generates modified trajectories that account for reduced performance, such as extended glide paths or adjusted descent rates, enabling safe off-site landings at locations that match the UAV's remaining capabilities
2Productivity
If the UAV continues operation with component failures, then it can reach the destination, but the risk of catastrophic failure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback through the failure detection system that monitors component status throughout the flight. When failures are detected, the capability evaluation system assesses the impact on mission completion and safety, and the trajectory generation system provides feedback by calculating whether safe off-site landing is feasible. This closed-loop feedback enables informed decisions about whether to continue to the original destination or execute an emergency off-site landing
3Area of stationary object
If the UAV performs a stall maneuver to minimize lateral energy, then it can land in confined off-site areas, but the landing precision is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the approach parameters by implementing a stall maneuver that reduces lateral energy and modifies the descent trajectory. This parameter change allows the UAV to land in confined off-site areas that would otherwise be inaccessible, trading some landing precision for the ability to utilize smaller, more flexible landing zones that are farther from populated areas
Data Source
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AI summary
A fixed wing unmanned aircraft and a method for operating the same are provided. The fixed wing unmanned aircraft may include, but is not limited to, a failure detection system configured to detect faults in one or more of the plurality of components, a capability evaluation system communicatively coupled to the failure detection system, the capability evaluation system configured to determine a capability level of the fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle based upon the faults in the one or more of the plurality of components, and a trajectory generation system communicatively coupled to the failure detection system and the capability evaluation system, the trajectory generation system configured to generate a touch down trajectory for the fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle based upon the determined capability level of the fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein when the determined capability level is below a predetermined threshold, the touch down trajectory comprising a stall maneuver configured to minimize a lateral energy of the fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle.