Demonstration of Precision Guided Ram-Air Parafoil Airdrop Using GPS/INS Navigation

Philip D. Hattis and Richard Benney

Abstract:	Airdrop technology has been and will continue to be a vital Department of Defense (DOD) capability in support of rapid deployment of war fighters, ammunition, equipment, and supplies. The Army, NASA, and a host of contractors are working on advanced gliding, steerable airdrop systems that can be deployed from high altitudes, with large offset, carrying payloads from hundreds of pounds to tens of thousands of pounds. The goal is to provide precision payload delivery (within 100 meters of the target). Draper Laboratory has developed modular guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) software to precision guide ram-air parafoils using a combination of Global Positioning System (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS) data. A simulation of parafoils, the Draper GN&C system, the sensors, and atmosphere variations has been constructed to evaluate the expected performance of the Draper software. Also, in conjunction with NASA, a series of flight demonstrations with an 8g sq. ft. parafoil and a 170 lbm payload is being performed to evaluate the performance of the Draper software under real flight conditions. This paper reviews the motivation for precision guided airdrop systems, discusses the Draper GPS/INS based GN&C for ram-air parafoils, presents results of simulations, and discuss flight test plans.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1996) June 19 - 21, 1996 Royal Sonesta Hotel Cambridge, MA
Pages:	185 - 194
Cite this article:	Hattis, Philip D., Benney, Richard, "Demonstration of Precision Guided Ram-Air Parafoil Airdrop Using GPS/INS Navigation," Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1996), Cambridge, MA, June 1996, pp. 185-194.
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