Flight testing of active flutter control technology on a conventional configuration UAS

The talk will discuss the aircraft design, instrumentation and flight testing considerations leading to the successful flutter controller tests and aeroservoelastic model validation flight test campaign within the EU H2020 project FliPASED, marking the first conventional configuration UAV flying beyond the open-loop flutter speed in May 2023 at DLR’s Cochstedt flight test center. Along with the theoretical control design results the team also explored the effects of sensor selection, model order reduction and custom actuator development and placement to achieve the most suitable demonstrator flight envelope to conduct dangerous test involving pushing the flutter boundary. The project advanced the state-of-art in several areas, including aeroelastic modelling, flight testing, control design and implementation as well as operational modal analysis and model order reduction. All the flight test data generated within the 28 flights of the project are available open-source to benefit the flight testing and aeroelasticity research community.