Formation of Tianwen-1 landing crater and mechanical properties of Martian soil near the landing site

After landing in the Utopia Planitia,Tianwen-1 formed the deepest landing crater on Mars,approximately 40 cm deep,exposing precious information about the mechanical properties of Martian soil.We established numerical models for the plume-surface interaction(PSI)and the crater formation based on Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)methods and the erosion model modified from Roberts’Theory.Comparative studies of cases were conducted with different nozzle heights and soil mechanical properties.The increase in cohesion and internal friction angle leads to a decrease in erosion rate and maximum crater depth,with the cohesion having a greater impact.The influence of the nozzle height is not clear,as it interacts with the position of the Shock Diamond to jointly control the erosion process.Furthermore,we categorized the evolution of landing craters into the dispersive and the concentrated erosion modes based on the morphological characteristics.Finally,we estimated the upper limits of the Martian soil’s mechanical properties near Tianwen-1 landing site,with the cohesion ranging from 2612 to 2042 Pa and internal friction angle from 25°to 41°.

Effects of retained dry material on the impact,overflow and landing dynamics

During long-term operation,the performance of obstacles would be changed due to the material accumulating upslope the obstacle.However,the effects of retained material on impact,overflow and landing dynamics of granular flow have not yet been elucidated.To address this gap,physical flume tests and discrete element simulations are conducted considering a range of normalized deposition height h0/H from 0 to 1,where h0 and H represent the deposition height and obstacle height,respectively.An analytical model is modified to evaluate the flow velocity and flow depth after interacting with the retained materials,which further serve to calculate the peak impact force on the obstacle.Notably,the computed impact forces successfully predict the experimental results when a≥25°.In addition,the results indicate that a higher h0/H leads to a lower dynamic impact force,a greater landing distance L,and a larger landing coefficient Cr,where Cr is the ratio of slope-parallel component of landing velocity to flow velocity just before landing.Compared to the existing overflow model,the measured landing distance L is underestimated by up to 30%,and therefore it is insufficient for obstacle design when there is retained material.Moreover,the recommended Cr in current design practice is found to be nonconservative for estimating the landing velocity of geophysical flow.This study provides insightful scientific basis for designing obstacles with deposition.

Stability Analysis of Nonlinear Models of Nose Landing Gear Shimmy

Shimmy can reduce the service life of the nose landing gear, affect ride comfort, and even cause fuselage damage leading to aircraft crashes. Taking a light aircraft as the research object, the torsional freedom of landing gear around strut axis and lateral deformation of tire are considered. Since the landing gear shimmy is a nonlinear system, a nonlinear mechanical model of the front landing gear shimmy is established. Sobol index method is proposed to analyze the influence of structural parameters on the stability region of the nose landing gear, and Routh-Huritz criterion is used to verify the reliability of the analysis results of Sobol index method. We analyse the effect of torsional stiffness of strut, caster length, rated initial tire inflation pressure, rake angle, and vertical force on the stability region of theront landing gear. And the research shows that the optimization of the torsional stiffness of the strut and the caster length of the nose landing gear should be emphasized, and the influence of vertical force on the stability region of the nose landing gear should be paid attention to.

DESIGN OF NEW PASSIVE ADAPTIVE SHOCK ABSORBER OF LANDING GEAR AND STUDY OF ITS LANDING PERFORMANCE

A new passive adaptive shock absorber of the landing gear with double-cavity and dual-damping is studied. Its mathematical model and the virtual prototype are established based on the dynamics simulation software ADAMS. The landing dynamic characteristics and the effect of the parameters on the proposed adaptive shock absorber are analyzed. The results show that the proposed adaptive shock absorber has the slightly better landing performance at the normal load case and much less overload at the crudely landing case than the shock absorber with single-cavity and variable orifice. It also can be concluded that the overload of the proposed adaptive shock absorber can be reduced through increasing the volumes of both cavities or decreasing the pressure of the high pressure cavity or increasing the pressure of the low pressure cavity.

IMPROVED LANDING-GEAR DESIGN FOR FLEXIBLE AIRPLANE

Landing dynamic simulation and landing-gear optimization design are used to improve the landing-gear design for a flexible airplane. Landing response is simulated by using velocity-squared damping, polytropic exponential air-compression spring, tire force power function characteristics, and an equivalent three-mass system.Optimization of landing-gear parameters is performed considering the maximum displacement of the landing-gear shock stroke, the maximum landing-gear force and the maximum deformation of the wingtip in the landing impact. Resutls show that landing-gear design parameters have an important influence on the structural flexibility of the airplane. And the landing performance of the landing-gear can be improved by the optimized metering pin type landing-gear.

TEST AND CONTROL SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF LANDING GEAR DROP TEST RIG

A control and test system of a landing gear drop test rig is developed considering the drop test specifica- tions for the ＂Seagull 300＂ multi-functional amphibious airplane. In order to realize the automation of drop test process, a servo system is proposed and programmable logic controller（PLC） technology is used. Several key technologies for measuring the horizontal load, the vertical load and the transient rotational speed are studied. According to the requirements of CCAR-23-R3, the drop test of landing gears of the ＂Seagull 300＂ airplane is accomplished. Test results show that the system has a high accuracy of data collection. The system is stable and reliable. The drop test satisfies the requirements of the drop test specifications and the results can be used as the certification of airworthiness for this kind of airplane.

GUIDANCE AND CONTROL FOR AUTOMATIC LANDING OF UAV

A scheme of guidance and control is presented to meet the requirements for automatic landing of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) based on the airborne digital flight control system and radio tracker on ground station. An automatic landing system is realized for an unmanned aerial vehicle. The results of real time simulation and flight test are given to illustrate the effectiveness and availability of the scheme. Results meet all the requirements for automatic landing of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Application of High-speed Solenoid Valve to the Semi-active Control of Landing Gear

To select or develop an appropriate actuator is one of the key and difficult issues in the study of semi-active controlled landing gear. Performance of the actuator may directly affect the effectiveness of semi-active control. In this article, parallel high-speed solenoid valves are chosen to be the actuators for the semi-active controlled landing gear and being studied. A nonlinear high-speed solenoid valve model is developed with the consideration of magnetic saturation characteristics and verified by test. According to the design rule of keeping the peak load as small as possible while absorbing the specified shock energy, a fuzzy PD control rule is designed. By the rule controller parameters can be self-regulated. The simulation results indicate that the semi-active control based on high-speed solenoid valve can effectively improve the control performance and reduce impact load during landing.

DYNAMIC RESPONSE ANALYSIS OF CARRIER-BASED AIRCRAFT DURING LANDING

In view of the complexity of landing on the deck of aircraft carrier,a systematic model,composed of sixdegree-of-freedom mathematic model of carrier-based aircraft,four-degree-of-freedom model of landing gears and six-degree-of-freedom mathematic model of carrier,is established in the Matlab-Simulink environment,with damping function of landing gears and dynamic characteristics of tires being considered.The model,where the carrier movement is introduced,is applicable for any abnormal landing condition.Moreover,the equations of motion and relevant parameter are also derived.The dynamic response of aircraft is calculated via the variable step-size RungeKuta algorithm.The effect of attitude angles of aircraft and carrier movement during the process of landing is illustrated in details.The analytical results can provide some reference for carrier-based aircraft design and maintenance.

Selection of a non-localized landing region for an unmanned helicopter based on an attention model

A new landing region selection algorithm for an unmanned helicopter is proposed based on an attention model.Different from the original attention model,some properties of the possible safe landing regions（e.g.,depth,regional color and motion features）are included in the selection algorithm.Furthermore,regional color and motion features are fused directly into the saliency map because these features do not have the ＂central-peripheral＂property.Experimental results validate the feasibility and efficiency of this approach.

SIMULATION OF LARGE CIVIL AIRCRAFT LANDING RESPONSE UNDER CONSIDERATIONS OF FLEXIBLE AIRFRAME

To evaluate the landing response of the large civil aircraft in the conceptual design phase , a method for simulating aircraft landing is given.The model for the shock absorber is investigated.The flexible airframe model is established using finite element model ( FEM ) to analyze its modes.Then , the whole aircraft model with flexible airframe is made for the multibody simulation.Tail-down , two-point , three-point and sideslip landing scenarios are studied.The influence on the landing performance considering mode superposition of the flexible airframe is analyzed.Both longitudinal and spanwise positions of the main landing gear are changed to research the influence on the landing performance.Results show that the method is feasible.The shock absorber axial force of the main landing gear with the flexible airframe is smaller than that of rigid airframe.The number of mode superposition and the position of main landing gear can influence the landing response.

Medial Longitudinal Arch Pad Influences Landing Control of the Lower Limbs during Single-Leg Jump-Landing

Background: Arch support has the effect of maintaining arch and correcting alignment, and it is broadly used for the prevention of sports impediment and treatment of athletes with lowered MLA and foot problems. The fact that the morphological change of MLA damages balance sense and postural control, it was reported that the insole supporting the arch of MLA improved postural balance. There are several studies regarding the effects of arch support;however, its effects on landing control have not been clarified. Therefore, in our research, we discussed the effect of MLA support for landing control, using lower limb dynamic alignment and the moment during landing as indexes. Methods: This study measured the landing motion to be evaluated was to jump from a platform with a height of 30 cm by taking-off with a single foot, and landing on a single foot on a floor reaction force gauge placed ahead and stay still for three seconds for the subjects were 13 healthy females. A soft 6 mm Boron sheet cut in the size of 9 × 3.5 cm, applied with double-sided tape (MLA pad) was used for arch support (hereafter referred to as “pad”). For the lower limb evaluation, an 8-camera with a three-dimensional behavioral analyzer (CORTEX, NAC product, sampling frequency: 120 Hz) and a floor reaction force gauge (AMTI product, sampling frequency: 1000 Hz) were used. Ten successful jump-landing tests for each limb were used for further analyses using Visual 3D software (Cmotion Inc., Kingston, Canada). Analysis objects were knee joint bending angle and valgus angle during landing;knee joint maximum bending angle;bending knee joint valgus angle, hip joint bending angle, adduction angle, ankle joint plantar flexion angle, varus angle at the time of knee joint maximum bending angle;and each joint moment. For statistical processing, the average value of three trials out of five trials was regarded as a representative value. Results: Regarding joint angles, significant differences were observed in maximum knee joint bending angle, knee joint bending angle during maximum valgus knee joint and ankle joint varus angle during knee joint maximum bending angle between before and after intervention. No significant differences were observed in other joint angles. Regarding joint moments, no significant difference was observed in each joint moment before and after the intervention. Significance: The decrease of knee joint valgus angle during landing by the use of MLA pad suggests the possibility of decreasing the risk of ACL injury. As the incidence of ACL injury in females is higher than that of males, and the evaluation for females had proceeded, it can be useful information for the prevention of ACL injury.

Hierarchical Optimization of Landing Performance for Lander with Adaptive Landing Gear

A parameterized dynamics analysis model of legged lander with adaptive landing gear was established. Based on the analysis model, the landing performances under various landing conditions were analyzed by the optimized Latin hypercube experimental design method. In order to improve the landing performances, a hierarchical optimization method was proposed considering the uncertainty of landing conditions. The optimization problem was divided into a higher level(hereafter the "leader") and several lower levels(hereafter the "follower"). The followers took condition?ing factors as design variables to find out the worst landing conditions, while the leader took bu er parameters as design variables to better the landing performance under worst conditions. First of all, sensitivity analysis of landing conditioning factors was carried out according to the results of experimental design. After the sensitive factors were screened out, the response surface models were established to reflect the complicated relationships between sensi?tive conditioning factors, bu er parameters and landing performance indexes. Finally, the response surface model was used for hierarchical optimization iteration to improve the computational e ciency. After selecting the optimum bu er parameters from the solution set, the dynamic model with the optimum parameters was simulated again under the same landing conditions as the simulation before. After optimization, nozzle performance against damage is improved by 5.24%, the acceleration overload is reduced by 5.74%, and the primary strut improves its performance by 21.10%.

Guidance and Control Techniques of Carrier-Based Aircraft for Automatic Carrier Landing

We summarize the guidance and control techniques of automatic carrier landing for carrier-based aircraft.First,we analyze the carrier landing operations of the manned fixed-wing aircraft,unmanned fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.Second,we look into the navigation and guidance system and the flight control methods for current different aircraft.Finally,we draw several conclusions of the development prospects for aircraft carrier landing,including the precision landing control techniques,precision approach and landing guidance techniques,and adaptive,reconfigurable and intelligent flight control techniques.

Automatic Carrier Landing Control for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Based on Preview Control

For carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs),one of the important problems is the design of an automatic carrier landing system(ACLS)that would enable the UAVs to accomplish autolanding on the aircraft carrier.However,due to the movements of the flight deck with six degree-of-freedom,the autolanding becomes sophisticated.To solve this problem,an accurate and effective ACLS is developed,which is composed of an optimal preview control based flight control system and a Kalman filter based deck motion predictor.The preview control fuses the future information of the reference glide slope to improve landing precision.The reference glide slope is normally a straight line.However,the deck motion will change the position of the ideal landing point,and tracking the ideal straight glide slope may cause landing failure.Therefore,the predictive deck motion information from the deck motion predictor is used to correct the reference glide slope,which decreases the dispersion around the desired landing point.Finally,simulations are carried out to verify the performance of the designed ACLS based on a nonlinear UAV model.

Tradeoff Analysis of Factors Affecting Longitudinal Carrier Landing Performance for Small UAV Based on Backstepping Controller

Tradeoff analysis of the factors,including external environment and unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)aerodynamic attributes,which affect longitudinal carrier landing performance,is important for small UAV.First,small UAV longitudinal carrier landing system is established,as well as the nonlinear dynamics and kinematics model,and then the longitudinal flight control system using backstepping technology with minimum information about the aerodynamic is designed.To assess the landing performance,a variety of influencing factors are considered,resulting in the constraints of aerodynamic attributes of carrier UAV.The simulation results show that the severe sea condition has the greatest influence on landing dispersion,while air wake is the primary factor on impact velocity.Among the longitudinal aerodynamic parameters,the lift curve slope is the most important factor affecting the landing performance,and increasing lift curve slope can improve the landing performance significantly.A better system performance will be achieved when the lift curve slope is larger than 2per radian.

Effect of a combined inversion and plantarflexion surface on ankle kinematics and EMG activities in landing

Purpose： The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of landing kinematics and electromyographic （EMG） activities of medial gastrocnemius on a combined inversion and plantarflexion surface on the ankle （MG）, peroneus longus （PL）, and tibialis anterior （TA） muscles. Methods： Twelve recreational athletes performed five drop landings from an overhead bar of 30 cm height on to three surfaces： a flat surface, a 25° inversion surface, and a combined surface of 25° inversion and 25° plantarflexion. The kinematic variables and integrated EMG （IEMG） of the three muscles were assessed using a one-way repeated measures ANOVA and a 3 × 3 （surface × muscle） ANOVA, respectively （p 〈 0.05）. Results： The IEMG results showed a significant muscle by surface interaction. The flat surface induced higher TA activity than the two tilted surfaces. The inverted surface produced significantly higher inversion peak angle and velocity than the flat surface, but similar PL activity across the surfaces. The MG IEMG, ankle plantarflexion angle, and inversion range of motion were significantly higher for the combined surface compared to the inverted surface. Conclusion： These findings suggest that compared to the inversion surface, the combined plantarflexion and inversion surface seems to provide a more unstable surface condition for lateral ankle sprains during landing.

Do ankle braces provide similar effects on ankle biomechanical variables in subjects with and without chronic ankle instability during landing?

Purpose:The purpose of this study was to examine effects of a sport version of a semi-rigid ankle brace (ElementTM) and a soft ankle brace (ASO) on ankle biomechanics and ground reaction forces (GRFs) during a drop landing activity in subjects with chronic ankle instability (CAI)compared to healthy subjects with no history of CAI.Methods:Ten healthy subjects and 10 subjects who had multiple ankle sprains participated in the study as the control and unstable subjects,respectively.The CAI subjects were age,body mass index and gender matched with the control subjects.The arch index and ankle functions of the subjects were measured in a subject screening session.During the biomechanical test session,participants performed five trials of drop landing from 0.6 m,wearing no brace ( NB),ElementTM brace and ASO brace.Simultaneous recording of three-dimensional kinematic (240 Hz)and GRF (1200 Hz) data were performed.Results:The CAI subjects had lower ankle functional survey scores.The arch index and deformity results showed greater arch deformity of ElementTM against a static load than in NB and ASO due to greater initial arch position held by the brace.CAI participants had greater eversion velocity than healthy coutrols.The ASO brace reduced the first peak vertical GRF whereas ElementTM increased 2nd peak vertical GRF.ElementTM brace reduced eversion range of motion (ROM) and peak eversion velocity compared to NB and ASO.In addition,ElementTM reduced dorsiflexion ROM and increased peak plantarflexion moment compared to NB and ASO.Conclusion:Results of static arch measurements and dynamic ankle motion suggest that the restrictions offered by both braces are in part due to more dorsiflexed ankle positions at contact,and higher initial arch position and stiffer ankle for ElementTM.

Autonomous Landing of Small Unmanned Aerial Rotorcraft Based on Monocular Vision in GPS-denied Area

Focusing on the low-precision attitude of a current small unmanned aerial rotorcraft at the landing stage, the present paper proposes a new attitude control method for the GPS-denied scenario based on the monocular vision. Primarily, a robust landmark detection technique is developed which leverages the well-documented merits of supporting vector machines (SVMs) to enable landmark detection. Then an algorithm of nonlinear optimization based on Newton iteration method for the attitude and position of camera is put forward to reduce the projection error and get an optimized solution. By introducing the wavelet analysis into the adaptive Kalman filter, the high frequency noise of vision is filtered out successfully. At last, automatic landing tests are performed to verify the method's feasibility and effectiveness. © 2014 Chinese Association of Automation.

AN ENSEMBLE FORECAST EXPERIMENT OF A LANDING TYPHOON

Based on the Global Regional Assimilation and Prediction System-Tropical Cyclone Model(GRAPES-TCM),an ensemble forecast experiment was performed,in which Typhoon Wipha during the period immediately prior to landfall was selected for the study and the breeding of growing mode(BGM) method was used to perturb the initial conditions of the vortex field and the environment field.The results of the experiment indicate that each member had a different initial status in BGM processing and they show a reasonable spread among members along with the forecast phase.Changes in the large-scale field,thermodynamic structure,and spread among members took place when Wipha made landfall.The steering effect of the large-scale field and the interaction between the thermodynamics and the dynamics resulted in different tracks of the members.Meanwhile,the forecast uncertainty increased.In summary,the ensemble mean did not perform as well as the control forecast,but the cluster mean provided some useful information,and performed better than the control in some instances.The position error was 34 km for 24 h forecast,153 km for 48 h forecast,and 191 km for 66 h forecast.The strike probability chart qualitatively described the forecast uncertainty.