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Athena Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of flight control
and navigation systems, today announced the successful flight
demonstration of damage tolerant flight control and autonomous landing
capabilities on a subscale F/A-18 UAV. The Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored the demonstration which was held on
April 18, 2007 at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.
The objective of the test was to prove that adaptive flight
controls could regain baseline aircraft performance after the aircraft
had sustained simulated battle damage and then safely land the
aircraft autonomously with only the onboard INS/GPS functionality of
Athena's GuideStar(TM) 111m for navigation.
The demonstration involved a subscale F/A-18 UAV, powered by a
turbojet engine, that sustained wing battle damage simulated with the
in-flight ejection of an aileron. Athena's damage tolerant controls
detected the damage in flight and adapted to the new air vehicle
configuration for the effects of the lost aileron, recovering the
baseline vehicle performance. The vehicle then successfully landed in
the damaged state with Athena's INS/GPS-only autonomous landing system
within a few feet of the target touch down point on the airfield
runway.
Damage tolerance is an enabling capability for increasing the
mission reliability of UAVs and Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs)
operating in hazardous and high-threat environments. The technology
provides for real-time autonomous accommodation of damage, followed by
an adaptation process that alters the flight control system to
compensate for the effects of the damage. During the flight test,
Athena demonstrated a capability that could be applicable to all
military aircraft operating in combat environments. The technology is
also relevant to any vehicle, manned or unmanned, including civilian
aircraft, that might sustain physical damage or failures that impact
controlled flight.
The demonstration highlights the challenge and importance of the
ability to autonomously land an air vehicle that has sustained damage.
This powerful capability can potentially save the military the
significant expense of lost UAVs and better protect US proprietary
technology. More importantly, when applied to manned aircraft, the
combined technology solution can save lives. Videos of the flight
demonstration can be viewed from Athena's web site at:
http://www.athenati.com/case_studies_videos/video_library.
Athena's flight control systems are used today to control and
autonomously land hundreds of UAVs in operation in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Athena's controls technology is based on unique
algorithms that have been developed and evolved in one and a half
decades of use. The company's evolutionary suite of control algorithms
has been built on experience achieved on a variety of UAVs and flying
over 160,000 hours in combat theater. Athena packages its controls
technology with sensors and hardware, offering complete solutions
through its GuideStar(TM) family of flight control and navigation
products.
About Athena Technologies
Athena Technologies is a premier developer and producer of
navigation and control systems. Founded in 1998, the company produces
the GuideStar(TM) family of versatile, compact and cost-effective
flight control systems for applications such as commercial aircraft
and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), target drones and missiles. The
company is an independent, privately held firm with headquarters in
Northern Virginia. Additional information is available at
www.athenati.com.
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