SBIR-STTR Award

This proposal targets a design of new management methods for power generation, distribution, and conversion in complex energy systems with multiple energy sources (fuel and electric) while ensuring necessary efficiency and electrical stability. The proposed methods are in response to the need for new modeling, simulation, and control of aircraft dynamics and the need to support electrification in future aircraft. The proposed innovation consists of three intertwined contributions: (1) a novel energy-based framework for modeling electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) for future aircraft systems in terms of energy and power interaction dynamics; (2) a novel coordinated near-optimal nonlinear control design in energy space with provable performance; and (3) protection logic integrated with such control design. Our most relevant starting concept underlying this project is the idea that a generalized reactive power can be defined for multi-physical complex systems, and it is, therefore, applicable to assessing stability/efficiency trade-offs in candidate EAP systems across any vehicle. The innovation is a step toward combining systems science and first principles in support of engineering and managing candidate transformative aircraft architectures. At present there is no analytics for such synergic approaches, and, as a result, it is not possible to enable systematic control design of energy generation, distribution, and consumption in aircraft systems. While the idea of using energy methods is not new, related analytics and algorithms for modeling complex vehicles do not exist. This project is the first of its kind to demonstrate the feasibility of managing candidate transformative aircraft configurations by means of dynamic management of energy exchanges across its components and subsystems. In this project, the novel energy-based modeling, control and protection design will be demonstrated on an actual Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft architecture. Potential NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) This project defines a first-of-a-kind management framework for modeling and control of EAP aircraft architectures. This unifying energy-based framework is a direct step towards enabling EAP by aiding control and protection logic design and assessing the impact of smart control on stability/efficiency trade-off across small engines, distribution and propulsion side. The proposed framework can be further extended to electric power systems for vehicle space missions, and manned deep-space missions. Potential Non-NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The main potential non-NASA applications are for complex energy systems such as terrestrial energy systems, microgrids, commercial aircrafts and ships; out of which all require new ways of operating and control of multi-physics subsystems. Concepts introduced in this project have potential applications for autonomous operation of small reconfigurable military microgrids.

The general motivation for this project, starting with Phase I, has been the need for systematic control co-design of power provision to the emerging vehicle architectures. Instead of designing specific hardware for the best static ratings and functionalities of the key equipment, dynamic inter-dependencies and functionalities must be modeled and controlled. This nonlinear fast control has become possible by progress in power electronics and materials. However, missing is the control logic for integrating these highly diverse technologies into a system which must meet difficult multiple performance objectives. This project is intended to fill this void. The unique contributions of this project are control and protection logic for providing power to vehicles operating over broad ranges of conditions. These include challenging missions as well as faults. In this project we view a vehicle as a composition of dynamically-controlled subsystems whose interactions depend on how sensing, control and protection are designed and integrated. The overall approach is the one of ``co-design” by which the candidate architecture is selected for its functionalities, control is designed and the hardware-control-protection integrated system is re-assessed for its performance. This approach is one of the major new R&D&D pursued for changing terrestrial sources and the emerging power systems, including stand-alone microgrids. The problem of power train design for vehicle architectures is even harder because of the needs to reduce their weight and thermal effects, all else being equal. This requires control co-design selection of machines (DC, permanent magnet (PM), synchronous machines SM), doubly fed induction machines (DFIM)) and their power electronically-controlled conversion logic so that the integrated system meets previously unmet functionalities. This is achievable through cooperative control and protection of vehicle resources, loads and their interfaces. Potential NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The energy based control framework developed here directly addresses the need to integrate individual aircraft energy system components into electric power systems that operate in ways to ensure fault-tolerance, stability and efficiency. It introduces a multi-layered interactive approach so the desired power is provided in transiently stable ways in response to varying aircraft situations. The approach can be extended to controlling electric power systems for single vehicle and future multi-vehicle manned deep-space missions. Potential Non-NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The non-NASA commercial applications primarily concern the operation of terrestrial electric power systems such as utility systems, “smart” grids and micro-grids. The proposed framework enables a significantly new approach to the modeling and control of future electric power systems which require the integration of diverse energy storage and intermittent resources.