CAREER: Internal Shape Control for Ocean and Atmospheric Vehicles

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal describes a symbiosis of research and education which blends mechanics and control in a way that advances the state and applicability of nonlinear control theory while offering unique opportunities to educate engineers by appealing to their earliest fascinations. The research integrates recently developed energy methods for controlling mechanical systems with empirical models of viscous fluid forces in order to control ocean and atmospheric vehicles using internal actuators. Educational activities complement this research and cultivate excitement for learning and discovery among students, and prospective students, through real-world engineering challenges involving vehicle dynamics and control and creative design. The research adapts energy-shaping control strategies to stabilize and maneuver vehicles using internal rotors or moving masses, focusing on the "case study" of an underwater vehicle. By incorporating viscous effects into the control design process, one may use them to advantage through clever modulation of a vehicle's internal shape. Research objectives include characterizing the effect of non-conservative forces on systems controlled using energy-shaping feedback, developing control strategies for internally actuated vehicles which exploit viscous effects, extending these strategies to vehicles with conventional actuators, and evaluating controller performance with an experimental underwater vehicle. Internal actuators promise to significantly enhance the efficiency, reliability, and performance envelope of underwater vehicles, moving them closer toward their inevitable role as workhorses for ocean science, offshore industry, and the military. Other areas where the resulting theory could be applied include internally or conventionally actuated ocean surface vessels, lighter-than-air vehicles, aircraft, low-orbit or re-entering spacecraft, and more general mechanical systems.