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ANZIAM J. 47(EMAC2005) pp.C231--C244, 2006.

Remote payload transportation using an aircraft-towed flexible cable system

D. E. Sgarioto

P. Williams

P. M. Trivailo

(Received 27 October 2005; revised 3 August 2006)

Abstract

We demonstrate the concept of using a cable towed beneath an aircraft to transport payloads without landing. The cable is modelled using a lumped parameter approach and the equations of motion are derived using Kane's method. Full three-dimensional dynamic coupling is preserved between the aircraft dynamics and the motion of the cable and payload. The system is controlled via aircraft maneuvering and prescribing the reel acceleration of the cable. A simulated payload transportation operation is numerically represented as a nonlinear optimal control problem and solved using a direct transcription technique implemented in Matlab. Numerical results are presented for a typical payload transportation operation.

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Authors

D. E. Sgarioto

School of Aerospace, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. mailto:S9908712@student.rmit.edu.au

P. Williams

P. M. Trivailo

Published September 11, 2006. ISSN 1446-8735

References

1. Y. Jun, K. Hall, A. Bennett and P. Bridges. Optimal guidance for airborne cable pickup system. AIAA Paper 84-1893, 1984, pages 379--384.
2. P. Trivailo, D. Sgarioto and C. Blanksby. Optimal control of aerial tethers for payload rendezvous. Proceedings of the $5$th Asian Control Conference, Melbourne, Jul. 20--23, 2004, pages 285--294.
3. D. Sgarioto and P. Trivailo. Cable assisted rendezvous for aircraft with surface locations. Proceedings of the $16^{th}$ International Federation of Automatic Control World Congress, Prague, 4--8 Jul. 2005, pages 1--6.
4. P. Williams, D. Sgarioto and P. Trivailo. Optimal control of an aircraft-towed flexible cable system. Proceedings of the $11$th Australian International Aerospace Congress, Melbourne, 13--17 Mar. 2005, pages 1--21.
5. P. Williams, D. Sgarioto and P. Trivailo. Motion planning for an aerial-towed cable system. AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit, San Francisco, Aug. 15--18, 2005, pages 1--31.
6. A. Long and C. Long. Surface approximation and interpolation via matrix SVD. The College Mathematics Journal, 32(1):20--25, 2001.
7. P. Williams. User's Guide to DIRECT Version 1.15. Technical Report, Melbourne, Australia, Nov. 2004.