Research
The MAX program is a collaboration between MIT, the University of Michigan, and the Air Force Research Lab. The research efforts of MIT on hypersonic vehicles are being conducted in the Active Adaptive Control Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Annaswamy.
Previous hypersonic research at MIT has investigated the longitudinal dynamics of a flexible, X-43 type geometry with under-slung scramjet engine. Current research at MIT will focus on exploring technologies for flight control of highly uncertain air breathing hypersonic vehicles performing complex maneuvers using a 6-DOF model.
Current work is being conducted towards the development of an adaptive controller for the 6-DOF model that will handle large uncertainties while performing high bank angle turns, and during climbing flight. Efforts are being made to accommodate in the control design the effects of engine dynamics including its operability limits and nonlinear dynamics during complex maneuvers.
Hypersonic vehicles tend to have discontinuities in the produced thrust at different flight conditions due to complex shock interactions in the engine inlet. Hypersonic vehicles also exhibit engine unstart at other flight conditions. Future work is planned to increase the capability of the current engine model to capture the effect of the nonlinearities in thrust across the flight envelope and develop suitable adaptive controllers that allow switching and state-based constraints.
