Control and Simulation
The Control & Simulation section strives to improve the safety of aerospace operations through the design and experimental evaluation of automatic flight control systems, human-machine systems, sense & avoid and air traffic management systems.
The section has three knowledge clusters that each focus on a distinct element of modern aerospace systems. It houses the Micro-Air Vehicle laboratory, MAV-lab, which studies Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the research flight simulator SIMONA and the CESSNA CITATION laboratory aircraft. In these laboratories many of the theoretical innovations are experimentally tested in real or simulated flight.
Aerospace Guidance, Control and Navigation focuses on the development ofnew generations of flight control systems, with superior performance and the ability to compensate automatically for technical faults. Topics include:
- Nonlinear dynamics, optimisation and control
- Adaptive and reconfigurable flight control
- Helicopter flight dynamics and handling qualities
- State estimation and distributed control
- Vision-based autonomous operations
Aerospace Human-Machine Systems aims at supporting the human operator in manual and supervisory control tasks, through developing innovative humanmachine interfaces and clever automation tools. Topics include:
- Cybernetic pilot perception and control models
- Haptic control systems, bio-dynamics
- Flight simulators and pilot training
- Ecological interfaces and cognitive systems
- Cockpit and air traffic control interfaces
Communication, Navigation & Surveillance in Air Traffic Management studies the sensors and systems enabling flight operations and Air Traffic Management (ATM), through simulating air traffic and designing novel equipment and algorithms. Topics include:
- Autonomous operations with Airborne Separation Assistance Systems
- Sense and avoid systems in the cockpit, on the ground and for UAVs
- Data-mining and big data applications, e.g., ADS-B
- Complexity of traffic patterns and traffic flows
- Scientific foundations of air traffic management and trajectory planning
For the course descriptions see the digital study guide.
