Autonomous Aerial Refueling Control Systems
Summary
Autonomous aerial refuelling control systems enable unmanned and optionally manned aircraft to perform precise rendezvous and docking manoeuvres with tanker platforms without direct human intervention. Central to these systems are integrated sensor suites—for example, electro-optical cameras, lidar and inertial measurement units—providing real-time relative position and attitude data. Advanced guidance, navigation and control algorithms then process this information to generate control inputs for the receiver aircraft and, in some schemes, for the drogue itself. Key control approaches include model predictive control for optimising trajectories under safety constraints, adaptive schemes to compensate for aerodynamic uncertainties, and cooperative methods that synchronise hose and drogue dynamics. Robustness to environmental disturbances—such as vortex wake, wind gusts and turbulence—is achieved via disturbance observers or adaptive neural-network augmentations. Hose dynamics modelling and active tension-control mechanisms mitigate oscillatory phenomena that can degrade docking stability. As autonomy levels increase, machine-learning techniques are being incorporated for fault detection, prediction of drogue behaviour and adaptive replanning. Collectively, these advances promise to extend operational endurance, reduce pilot workload and enhance the strategic flexibility of both military and civilian aerial platforms.
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Autonomous Aerial Refueling Control Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in autonomous aerial refueling control systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Probe–drogue system: A refuelling interface comprising a flexible hose and a drogue that receives a probe on the receiver aircraft for fuel transfer.
Controllable drogue: A drogue fitted with actuators to adjust its position and attitude, improving alignment and expanding the docking envelope.
Adaptive dynamic surface control: A hierarchical control methodology using velocity filters and adaptive laws to handle nonlinearities and uncertainties without signal explosion.
Hose whipping phenomenon: Aerodynamically induced oscillations of the refuelling hose that can destabilise docking and complicate control.
Radial basis function neural network: An artificial neural architecture using radial basis functions to approximate unknown nonlinearities in control systems.
References
- A Cooperative Control Method for Wide-Range Maneuvering of Autonomous Aerial Refueling Controllable Drogue. Aerospace (2024).
- Active Control of Aerial Refueling Hose‐Drogue Dynamics with the Improved Reel Take‐Up System. International Journal of Aerospace Engineering (2022).
- Docking Controller for Autonomous Aerial Refueling With Adaptive Dynamic Surface Control. IEEE Access (2020).
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