SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION IN FLIGHT VALIDATION OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL TO PREVENTLOSS-OF-CONTROL EVENTS
- Notice Date
- 4/9/2009
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771
- ZIP Code
- 20771
- Solicitation Number
- NNH09ZEA002L
- Response Due
- 4/30/2009
- Archive Date
- 4/9/2010
- Point of Contact
- Dr. Kalmanje Krishnakumar, PI, IRAC Project, Phone 000-000-0000, Fax 000-000-0000, />
- E-Mail Address
-
IRAC-RFI@nx.arc.nasa.gov<br
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- 1. BackgroundNASAs Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control (IRAC) Project within NASAs Aviation SafetyProgram (see IRAC Technical Plan, located at:http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/nra_pdf/irac_tech_plan_c1.pdf ) has a long-termresearch plan to advance the state of aircraft flight control to provide onboard controlresilience for ensuring safe flight in the presence of adverse conditions. One of theproject objectives is to advance the state-of-the-art of adaptive controls to the pointof maintaining stable flight in degraded or upset conditions, and sustain safe flightthrough landing. To this end, NASA has access to a modified F/A-18 full-scale, pilotedaircraft with high performance capabilities for IRAC integrated system-level researchexperiments. NASA also has access to a family of remotely piloted subscale transportaircraft that will be used to augment the full-scale flight research as appropriate. (SeeAppendix A in the attachment for the capabilities of these flight assets.) As NASA doesnot typically build or certify military or commercial aircraft, we will considerpartnerships with industry to help us identify emerging safety concerns and advance thetechnologies to continually improve aircraft safety. Towards this goal, the project is soliciting information and feedback from the aviationcommunity. At this time, NASA will use any information provided for the purpose ofconsidering a focused research effort in this area and will publish a summary of thecollected responses from this solicitation. This synopsis is for information and planningpurposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will theGovernment pay for information solicited. 2. Description Under this request for information (RFI), NASA seeks to identify technologyimplementation barriers to implementation of adaptive control technologies andarchitectures. Responses will inform the IRAC project as it defines an experimentalflight test program for maturing the technology readiness of adaptive controltechnologies and architectures for their use in the next generation civilian transportairplanes. Specifically, IRAC seeks community input into implementation barriers to implementingadaptive control on production civilian aircraft, and how those barriers might beaddressed with integrated system-level research and experimentation with the NASA F/A-18tail number (TN) 853 full-scale testbed. In particular, IRAC seeks opinions andsuggestions related to the following questions: How would you envision the implementation of adaptive control in bothcurrent-generation and future-generation general aviation and transport aircraft? What technical challenges do you feel adaptive control is best suited for? Are thereother mechanisms that may be better suited for addressing these challenges, or doesadaptive control provide unique capabilities? What do you perceive as the most formidable obstacles to implementation of adaptivecontrol? What obstacles to implementing adaptive control do you think can be answered with -- control theoretic analysis, -- simulation, -- subscale models with single-string avionics -- s/w and h/w in-the-loop simulation -- manned flight research using representative avionics (e.g., multi-string avionics) -- other forms of analysis such as formal methods What type of pilot interaction with the adaptive controller and its elements will bebest suited for handling and recovering from upsets and uncertainties? For example,should adaptive control provide stability augmentation functions such that the pilotcommands attitude through stick-and-rudder, or should the pilot instead provideouter-loop commands (e.g., heading and altitude targets) similar to current autopilotcommands? Are there other challenges with implementing adaptive control that cannot be answeredwith NASAs planned manned flight research, either due to the vehicle used (a militaryfighter) or inherent limitations on the cases that can be examined in flight research? What are the most promising emerging adaptive control techniques that should beconsidered for further investigation? 3. Process In Fiscal Year 2009, IRAC is pursuing a four-step process to define an experimentalflight test program for maturing the technology readiness of adaptive controltechnologies and architectures. Step 1. Internal NASA-only Kick-off Workshop NASA initiated an internal one-day workshop to lay out an initial set of objectives andexperiments that could be conducted using the F/A-18 flight test vehicle. Theseobjectives and experiments are in support of answering questions related to technologybarriers for adaptive control implementation. In answering these questions, thecapabilities of the F/A-18 test vehicle and the resources available to NASA wereidentified and considered. Tentative integrated system-level research experiments tosupport the objectives were laid out and are presented in Appendix B, see attachment. TheIRAC project has identified three broad objectives for the experimental flight testprogram. These objectives are subject to change based on the responses received as aresult of this RFI and subsequent discussions with interested parties. Step 2. IRAC RFI Released to the Community Solicit information through this RFI on the key areas of interest from the externalcommunity and determine potential areas to form collaborative arrangements. Step 3. Community Outreach Meeting / Peer-Review Workshop Review the community feedback with interested individuals, industry teams, educationalinstitutions, non-profit organizations, and companies engaged in foundational research.This is currently planned to be held in June of 2009 in conjunction with American ControlConference at St. Louis, Missouri. Step 4. Internal NASA-only Review Develop the experimental research plan for execution at the field centers and establishinternal milestones. The responses to this RFI will provide important source material tothe NASA research teams to be used in establishing specific collaborative partnerships. 4. Information for Respondents 4.1 How to Respond Respondents are requested to submit a white paper of ten (10) pages maximum, with minimum12-point Times font. All white papers shall include the company or institute name,point-of-contact, address, phone number and email. These responses may include referencesto material available in the public literature; NASAs consideration of these referenceswill be aided by the respondent discussing the importance of and unique capabilitiesdescribed by any cited material. Please submit all responses in electronic format to the Point-of-Contact listed below byNOON Eastern Daylight Time, April 30, 2009: Questions regarding this RFI should also be addressed to the Point-of-Contact. 4.2 Proprietary or Confidential Information Since provided information will be incorporated into a larger summary of the collectedresponses that will be published by NASA, respondents are NOT to provide any informationthat is considered proprietary, trade secrets, or privileged or confidential. Anyresponse that includes data or information with markings indicating that the data orinformation is non-public, proprietary or may not be republished will be considerednon-responsive and will be returned.
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