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Strickly speaking, most autonomous parafoil and payload aircraft possess only lateral control, achieved by right and left parafoil brake deflection. An innovative new technique to achieve direct longitudinal control through dynamic incidence angle changes is reported. Addition of this extra control channel requires simple rigging changes and an additional servo actuator. The ability of dynamic incidence angle to alter the glide slope of a parafoil and payload aircraft is demonstrated through a flight test program with a micro parafoil system. Results from the flight test program are synthesized and integrated into a 6 degreeof-freedom simulation. The simulation model is subsequently used to assess the utility of glide slope control to improve autonomous flight control system performance. Through Monte Carlo simulation, impact point statistics with and without glide slope control indicate that dramatic improvements in impact point statistics are possible using direct glide slope control. , , u v w = Velocity components of mass center in a body reference frame., , p q r = Angular velocity components in a body reference frame. Γ= Canopy incidence angle.

No abstract

A hybrid micro air/ground vehicle has been developed and is specifically tailored to explore interior spaces with complex terrain. The vehicle, called the hopping rotochute, maneuvers through intricate environments by hopping over or through impeding obstacles. A small coaxial rotor system provides the necessary lift while a moveable internal mass allows directional control. In addition, the low mass center and egg-like exterior shape of the body creates a means to passively reorient the vehicle to an upright attitude when in contact with the ground while protecting the rotating components. This paper examines basic flight performance of the device obtained through a validated simulation. Key parameters such as system weight, rotor speed, internal mass weight and location, as well as battery capacity are varied to explore air vehicle performance characteristics such as single hop height and range, number of hops, and total achievable range. In general, the total achievable range is increased as the internal mass weight, internal mass offset, and battery capacity are increased. For a given system, an optimum rotor speed and pulse width results in the maximum achievable total range for a single battery charge. The sensitivity of the hopping rotochute to atmospheric winds is also investigated and the ability of the device to perform trajectory shaping is shown.

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER The angular distribution of neutrons formed in nuclear fusion reactions of a high-energy deuteron beam with a deuterated polyethylene (CD2) was investigated with a Monte Carlo ion beam-target deposition model. The initial conditions were obtained from a two-dimensional particlein-cell laser-target deposition model. The neutron yield and its angular distribution were studied as a function of peak laser intensity, laser pulse duration and primary target thickness. The proposed scheme for neutron production delivers a typical neutron yield of 10E+5-10E+7 neutrons/ion and 10E+5-10E+7 neutrons/Joule laser energy. REPORT TYPE 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) TITLE AND SUBTITLE AUTHOR(S) PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) SPONSOR / MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S) 9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) SPONSOR / MONITOR'S REPORT NUMBER(S)12 Laser-target deposition model.A two-dimensional fully relativistic electromagnetic particle-in-cell model (Ref.[1]) was developed. The particle-in-cell model describes the evolution of the target by moving "quasiparticles" representing each species (electrons and ions). The "quasi-particles" are driven by the laser electromagnetic field. To describe the latter, we solve the Maxwell's equations for propagation of electromagnetic wave (in the visible/near IR) through the plasma. The particle-incell model solves the relativistic equations of motion of the charged particles (ions and electrons) from which one can derive detailed information about the particle positions, velocity and energy.Coupling the two parts of the model turned out to be a major problem since the plasma density is very high. Particle-in-cell codes tend to produce "noisy" quantities, such as particle densities and currents. The numerical noise quickly amplifies and the solution is overwhelmed by artificial noise. Therefore, we developed a technique specifically designed to couple a particle-...