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Title: Energy-modeled flight in a wind field

Conference ·
OSTI ID:481993
;  [1]
  1. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA (United States)

Optimal shaping of aerospace trajectories has provided the motivation for much modern study of optimization theory and algorithms. Current industrial practice favors approaches where the continuous-time optimal control problem is transcribed to a finite-dimensional nonlinear programming problem (NLP) by a discretization process. Two such formulations are implemented in the POST and the OTIS codes. In the present paper we use a discretization that is specially adapted to the flight problem of interest. Among the unique aspects of the present discretization are: a least-squares formulation for certain kinematic constraints; the use of an energy ideas to enforce Newton`s Laws; and, the inclusion of large magnitude horizontal winds. In the next section we shall provide a description of the flight problem and its NLP representation. Following this we provide some details of the constraint formulation. Finally, we present an overview of the NLP problem.

OSTI ID:
481993
Report Number(s):
CONF-960503-; CNN: Contract NAS1-20405; Grant TRA-95-008; Contract F49620-93-1-0280; TRN: 97:002904-0024
Resource Relation:
Conference: 1. international conference on nonlinear problems in aviation and aerospace, Daytona Beach, FL (United States), 9-11 May 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of First international conference on nonlinear problems in aviation & aerospace; Sivasundaram, S. [ed.]; PB: 729 p.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English