PROJECT TITLE :

Modeling, Control, and Experimental Validation of a High-Speed Supercavitating Vehicle

ABSTRACT:

Underwater vehicles that travel inside a bubble or supercavity provide possibilities for prime-speed and energy-economical transportation of cargo and personnel. Validation and testing of mathematical models and Control Systems for these vehicles may be a challenge due to the cost and complexity of experimental facilities and testing procedures. A cost-efficient and low-complexity approach to the experimental validation of mathematical models and management systems for a supercavitating test vehicle is presented during this paper. The proposed methodology permits the testing of control algorithms subject to steady and unsteady flows in an exceedingly high-speed water tunnel. The method combines a real-time simulation of the vehicle dynamics, force measurements from an experimental scale vehicle, and flight control computer to reproduce the vehicle motion subject to realistic flow conditions and hardware constraints as actuator saturation and time delay. The model of the vehicle dynamics, used for the validation infrastructure and management style, springs using experimental knowledge. A controller designed to track pitch angle reference commands was tested on the experimental platform. The check cases validated the operation of the vehicle and controller subject to steady and unsteady flows.