Fast level-flight to hover mode transition and altitude control in tiltrotor’s landing operation

Abstract

An attempt is made to implement a faster level-flight to hover mode transition in tiltrotor’s landing process for the purpose of shortening its landing time. A three-stage tiltrotor landing maneuver is designed, and corresponding control modules and algorithms are created based on the analysis of the flight dynamics and the required actions of tiltrotor’s landing operation. As the altitude control is vital for tiltrotor’s near-ground landing, an Extended State Observer (ESO) control module of the Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) is designed to reduce altitude fluctuations in the fast mode transition, which makes the designed maneuver workable at very low altitudes. Simulations are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the designed maneuver and the validity of ESO control in various flight conditions. Flight test results that finally prove the effectiveness of the desired fast transition maneuver are reported.