Dp 211 en
Economical autopilot
Author: Molitoris Peter
Not only functionality but also weight influences the airplane instrument equipment. The weight problem is essential for little airplanes and can have consequences on autopilot's installation. That's why we're looking for solutions of control system weight reduction. As servomechanisms have to transmit great performances, their weight reduction is not possible. So we have to reduce or replace instrumentation and measuring equipment which are the factors that affect autopilot's structure.
One of the solutions is to replace heavy and costly gyroscopic measure unit by linear accelerometer. In this case, we're stabilizing directly vertical speed instead of longitudinal airplane movement. Vertical speed is calculated numerically from the measure of altitude pressure transducer, which belongs to basic airplane instrumentation. Modern accelerometers are integrated circuits and their use represents great weight saving.
Design of compensators and the performance study of closed loop system were made with Matlab's and Simulink's numerical simulations. We were studying autopilot's performances in his modes of vertical speed, altitude hold, glide slope intercept and tracking.
- Molitoris Peter, tel: +0420777874325, mailto:p.molitoris@ok.cvut.cz
