AN ASSESSMENT OF OPERATIONAL AND COST TRADEOFF FACTORS FOR A TYPICAL HIGH PERFORMANCE AFCS
Abstract
Preliminary design evaluation an optimization techniques were applied to an existing operational manned aircraft flight control system (AFCS) to determine: the possibility of improvements in unreliability, maintainability, operability, and initial cost derived, without sacrifice in performance, from an approach which views pilot, controller, and vehicle as components of an integrated whole; and the payoffs realizable by tailoring the controller-airframe-specification combination to take full advantage of pilot capabilities so that a balance is struck between manual and automatic means of accomplishing control functions. The A4D-2N aircraft and its AFCS were studied. T HE SYSTEM IS BROKEN DOWN TO FUNDAMENTAL PIECE-PART LEVELS (e.g., resistor, transformer, actuator, synchro, etc.) and the relative contribution of each piece-part is evaluated. The individual contributions are then grouped by function (e.g., positional servo loop, rate feedback loop, etc) and by control axis to determine the over-all cost of the function and its relative contribution to the total system cost. A summary is presented of the preceding assessments in the form of generic tradeoff plots of cost versus system complexity. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0286327
Entities
People
- D.e. Johnston
- D.h. Weir