Verification of a Remaining Flying Time Prediction System for Small Electric Aircraft

• Published in: NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI). Conference Proceedings
• Main Authors: Hogge, Edward F, Bole, Brian M, Vazquez, Sixto L, Celaya, Jose R, Strom, Thomas H, Hill, Boyd L, Smalling, Kyle M, Quach, Cuong C
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Hampton NASA/Langley Research Center 18.10.2015
• Subjects: Aircraft; Fly by wire control; Ground tests; Powertrain; Storage batteries; Trustworthiness; Unmanned aerial vehicles

This paper addresses the problem of building trust in online predictions of a battery powered aircraft's remaining available flying time. A set of ground tests is described that make use of a small unmanned aerial vehicle to verify the performance of remaining flying time predictions. The algorithm verification procedure described here uses a fully functional vehicle that is restrained to a platform for repeated run-to-functional-failure experiments. The vehicle under test is commanded to follow a predefined propeller RPM profile in order to create battery demand profiles similar to those expected in flight. The fully integrated aircraft is repeatedly operated until the charge stored in powertrain batteries falls below a specified lower-limit. The time at which the lower-limit on battery charge is crossed is then used to measure the accuracy of remaining flying time predictions. Accuracy requirements are considered in this paper for an alarm that warns operators when remaining flying time is estimated to fall below a specified threshold.