Wanda has just taken a new job at the Icarus Aerospace Corp. Icarus
is developing a new small jet aircraft for business travel. Wanda
has been assigned to a design group that will develop all of the control
systems for the aircraft. Her group's first problem is to develop
a pitch control system for the aircraft. A sketch of the pitch control
system is shown below.
The elevator actuator
is a hydraulic system that is in final development.
The aircraft configuration
has been finalized.
Icarus - after years of
experience - has settled on a vendor for the pitch gyro and the pitch gyro
has been selected.
That pretty much leaves the pitch controller for Wanda's group to design.
The pitch controller must
be designed and in place for the first flight.
It is absolutely essential
that Icarus know how the aircraft will behave. There are some absolutes:
The pilot's welfare (and
passengers') and the integrity of the air frame are paramouont on the test
flight and all succeeding flights.
The plane cannot "nose
down" (large negative and increasing pitch) as this will send the aircraft
nose-first into the ground. Here is a simulation of a nose-down crash.
The plane cannot stall
(large positive pitch) as this involves loss of lift and loss of control
and can be difficult to recover from. Here is a simulation of a stall
and subsequent crash.
There are some other specifications.
When the desired pitch
is changed suddenly from one constant value to another constant value,
pitch change should be within 2% in 10 seconds.
Overshoot should not exceed
10% of the requested change in pitch.
Your problem:
Describe a reasonable
way for Wanda to solve this problem.
