Hypersonic Neurocontrol Actuator and Testbed (LoFLYTE®)

Accurate Automation Corporation

Chattanooga, TN 
 

The LoFLYTE® vehicle was the first known powered flight of a hypersonic waverider configuration at low speed, which proves that this shape can takeoff and land from a runway. Accurate Automation has developed a neural controller representing the first of a new generation of “smart” actuator controllers and a testbed vehicle on which to test fly the neural control system.

• Designed and developed a hybrid/adaptive controller which automatically adapts to changing flight environments, such as speed, altitude, wind, and turbulence
• Designed a test apparatus to allow evaluation of the performance of the hybrid neural/adaptive controller in various flight environments and simulated the effect of control surface and actuator damage
• Built a 100” wind tunnel model and performed an extensive series of wind tunnel tests to evaluate the low speed performance of a Mach 5 waverider configuration to compare to real flight data
• Flight tested a 100” radio-controlled model of a jet-powered vehicle with the 419th Flight Test Squadron at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB
• Flight tested the neural network flight control system

• The technologies developed in this program were included in the proposal submitted by the Accurate Automation-led team for NASA’s Future-X Pathfinder program.
• Accurate Automation has proposed the use of this shape as a UCAV, a hypersonic cruise missile, and a hypersonic target to the U.S. Navy.
• The LoFLYTE® team was awarded a Small Business Administration Tibbetts Award in 1996.
• LoFLYTE®’s neural network flight control system was awarded “Best of What’s New” by Popular Science in 1996.
• Accurate Automation has licensed this technology to a major aerospace corporation

• The LoFLYTE® shape can be scaled up to a faster and larger configuration for an unmanned combat aerial vehicle, a cruise missile, or a hypersonic transport aircraft.
• The LoFLYTE® testbed aircraft is being used to test additional aerospace technologies including Accurate Automation’s Neural Air Data Sensor subsystem, neural network engine controller, “Fly-by-Light” communi- cations protocol, an advanced health monitoring system, and an advanced real-time data acquisition and control system.

 

 

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