An advanced on-board airdrop planner to facilitate precision payload delivery

The US Army Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) have teamed with all Department of Defense (DoD) services and organizations with interest in programs and investments in Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) technology and systems. These organizations include: Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to include: Joint Staff (JS); Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ALT); Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E), Advanced Systems and Concepts (AS&C), Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), US Air Force Air Mobility Command (USAF AMC), USAF Air Mobility Warfare Center (AMWC), the US Army Product Manager Force Sustainment Systems (PM-FSS), US Marine Corps (USMC), US Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and many other government agencies and contractors to plan and execute JPADS programs. This paper will provide an overview of some of the DoD JPADS programs to include: Results of the JPADS Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD), recent Joint Military Utility Assessment (JMUA) # 2, The US Army Formal Program of Record (PoR) for the JPADS Extra Light (700-2200lb capability), Rapid Combat Fielding (RCFs) Initiatives for JPADS 2,200lb systems and early results and lessons learned from Combat Operations, the recently started Wireless Gate Rrelease System (WGRS), and related precision airdrop activities within NATO. I. Department of Defense JPADS Program Overview The purpose of the JPADS is to meet the Combatant Commanders (COCOM) requirement of sustaining combat power using high altitude, precision airdrop as a direct and theater delivery method, into a dynamic, dispersed, and unsecured battlespace. This must be done with speed and flexibility to provide an optional capability previously unavailable to the COCOM, and to enable decisive operational superiority. JPADS is a family of systems consisting of self guided cargo parachute systems (Army lead), and a common laptop mission planning (MP) and weather system (USAF lead) with numerous additional partners. The JPADS family includes, • JPADS Extra Light (XL) weight range: 700-2,400 lbs. • JPADS-Light (L): 5001 lbs-10K lbs: Currently an ACTD. • JPADS-Medium (M): up to 30K lbs, a US Army Technology Objective (ATO) • JPADS-Mission Planner (MP): The JPADS-Mission Planner is a snap-on/snap-off kit for use in C-130s, C-17s, CASAs, and other aircraft to determine optimum Computed Aerial Release Points (CARPs). MP collects and assimilates weather and programs JPADS cargo systems wirelessly in the aircraft just prior to exit. The MP produces JPADS Launch Acceptability Regions (LARs) within which the systems can be dropped to get to their planned Point of Impact (PI) and also wirelessly updates JPADS Airborne Guidance Units (AGUs) with new PIs (if desired) just prior to aircraft exit. The MP is also used for high altitude "dumb" airdrops also known as Improved Container Delivery System (ICDS). The lead for JPADS requirements is the US Army Comb...

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“…The JPADS-MP ( Figure 4) [3][4][5] [6] comprises a JPADS mission planner system and a JPADS GPS retransmission kit.…”

Section: ) Jpads Mission Planning Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

DOD JPADS Programs Overview and Nato Activities

Benney

McGrath

McHugh

et al. 2007

19th AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Technology Conference and Seminar

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“…Recently, GPS-equipped parachute-payload systems freely drifting with the wind have been used for the real-time measurement of the wind column over a drop zone. [1][2][3][4] High porosity parachutes are used for that purpose because of their stability and non-gliding properties, which are important requirements for this type of application. But deep cones can do the job as well.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inflation and Steady Descent Characteristics of Truncated Cone Decelerators

Potvin

Peek²

2005

18th AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Technology Conference and Seminar

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We report on the results of a "first look" study of the inflation and descent characteristics of a new type of parachute-the truncated cone decelerator (or "TCD"). Featuring a deep conical inflated shape truncated at the apex, the TCD is being envisaged for use in windsensing applications where GPS-instrumented payloads are to be drifting freely with the wind, in a stable manner and without gliding. The combination of a low axial drag area with a high transverse drag area should rank the TCD as one of the best performers for this type of applications. The paper first presents the design characteristics of the two 2.3 height-tobase-ratio cones that were used in this study, namely a three foot-long model and a 16ftlong model. Next comes the discussion of the experimental data on fall rates, which yielded drag coefficient values approximating C D ~ 0.25. Data was also obtained with the sub-scale model being truncated at the vent, at lengths ranging from 0% to 20% of the original cone height. The paper ends with a discussion of the inflation properties, which yielded low peak drag forces and non-dimensional filling time values approximating n fill ~ 13 to 20. Nomenclature

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“…Two government funded programs sponsored by NASA and the U.S. Army began investigating guidance, navigation and control (GN&C) architectures for parafoil systems in the 1990s [11,15]. The application of parafoils to military resupply helped to accelerate the design process, leading to improvements in atmospheric wind prediction, high-fidelity parafoil simulation models, and extensive flight test experiments [10, 16,17]. Many of these developments took place as part of a combined initiative between the U.S. Army and the Air Force known as the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) [2,18], along with predecessor programs such as New World Vistas (NWV) and the Precision Guided Airdrop System (PGAS) [16,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The application of parafoils to military resupply helped to accelerate the design process, leading to improvements in atmospheric wind prediction, high-fidelity parafoil simulation models, and extensive flight test experiments [10, 16,17]. Many of these developments took place as part of a combined initiative between the U.S. Army and the Air Force known as the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) [2,18], along with predecessor programs such as New World Vistas (NWV) and the Precision Guided Airdrop System (PGAS) [16,19]. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) continues to oversee JPADS research to enhance the capability of guided airdrop systems ranging from 10-42,000 pounds [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analytic Chance Constraints for the Robust Guidance of Autonomous Parafoils

Ellertson

2016

AIAA Infotech @ Aerospace

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Autonomously guided parafoil systems can deliver supplies and aid to remote, geographically diverse locations, while providing important safety and logistical advantages over ground-based transportation methods. A key challenge facing modern airborne delivery systems, such as parafoils, is the ability to accurately and consistently deliver supplies into difficult, complex terrain. Parafoil guidance algorithms must be able to generate feasible trajectory solutions to the target location within highly constrained terrain environments and from a wide range of initial conditions. Robustness is critical for successful payload delivery in the presence of uncertain atmospheric wind disturbances.This thesis presents two online trajectory planning algorithms for autonomous parafoil guidance in complex terrain and wind environments. These -algorithms are capable of operating from arbitrary initial conditions, including altitude, and are robust to wind disturbances that may be highly dynamic throughout terminal descent. The first algorithm, known as Analytic CC-RRT, builds upon the framework of chance-constrained rapidly-exploring random trees (CC-RRT). This planner enables fast incremental trajectory construction in cluttered, non-convex environments, while using chance constraints to ensure probabilistic feasibility. The designed costto-go function prioritizes target accuracy and upwind landings through the selection of partial paths that intelligently consider current and reachable future states. A trained multi-class wind uncertainty model is introduced to classify and anticipate the effect of future wind disturbances online. Utilizing this model, robustness to wind variations is achieved via a novel analytic uncertainty sampling technique, allowing the probability of constraint violation to be efficiently evaluated against arbitrary and aggressive terrain.The second algorithm, known as CC-BLG, incorporates the Analytic CC-RRT proactive wind model and uncertainty sampling technique into the optimized BandLimited Guidance (BLG) framework. Through the design of a novel risk-based objective function, CC-BLG trajectories efficiently balance the parafoil performance metrics of landing accuracy and landing speed with the risk of off-nominal terrain 3 collisions caused by future wind disturbances. Proposed extensions to the analytic uncertainty sampling technique are shown to yield enhanced planning robustness by refining the estimation of trajectory risk. Multi-phase CC-BLG path planning enables initialization of parafoil terminal guidance from potentially high altitudes, while discrete reachability set approximation is used to maintain robust obstacle avoidance over disjoint planning horizons.Extensive Monte Carlo simulation analysis demonstrates that the Analytic CC-RRT and CC-BLG algorithms achieve significant improvements in mean and worstcase landing accuracy within complex terrain scenarios relative to the state-of-the-art Band-Limited Guidance (BLG) algorithm. Flight test experiments conducted with a full-scal...

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An advanced on-board airdrop planner to facilitate precision payload delivery

Cited by 7 publications

References 3 publications

DOD JPADS Programs Overview and Nato Activities

DOD JPADS Programs Overview and Nato Activities

Inflation and Steady Descent Characteristics of Truncated Cone Decelerators

Analytic Chance Constraints for the Robust Guidance of Autonomous Parafoils

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