Control Engineering in Aeronautic

Abstract

Several characteristics of the control system can be linked with the human behaviour. The
Control System can think to an extent that, they can replace some human operation. It is a
concept or principle that seems to be fundamental in nature and not necessarily peculiar to
engineering. The field of aeronautics is wide ranging and multi-disciplinary, covering a
large variety of products, disciplines and domain. These are combined to enable the
aerospace & defence industry to produce exciting and technologically efficient products.
Flight Control Systems are an essential element of all modern aerospace vehicles, for
instance:
 Civil aircraft use a flight management system to track optimal flight trajectories,
 Autopilots are used to follow a set course or to land the aircraft,
 Gust and manoeuvre load alleviation systems are often employed,
 Military aircraft are often designed for enhanced manoeuvrability with carefree handling
in flight regimes that have statically unstable open loop behaviour,
 Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAVs) are able to follow a pre-defined task without
any human intervention,
 Guidance and control strategies are required by rockets that are able to deal with
parameters varying rapidly with time x whilst ensuring that rocket’s orientation follows
the desired flight path curvature, and
 Spacecraft need to be guided accurately on missions that may last many years whilst also
maintaining the desired attitude throughout.