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Meeting	ACGS Committee Meeting 118 - Minneapolis, MN - October 2016
Agenda Location	8 SUBCOMMITTEE C – AVIONICS AND SYSTEM INTEGRATI 8.2 Aurora Flight Science’s Advanced VTOL Autonomy Programs
Title	Aurora Flight Science’s Advanced VTOL Autonomy Programs
Presenter	Graham Drozeski
Affiliation	Aurora Flight Sciences
Available Downloads*	presentation
	Downloads are available to members who are logged in and either Active* or attended this meeting.
Abstract	Aurora Flight Sciences is advancing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft autonomy under four full-scale developments efforts: the VTOL X-Plane program under the Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency (DARPA), the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Autonomy System (ALIAS) under DARPA, Autonomous Aerial Cargo / Utility System (AACUS) under the Office of Navy Research (ONR), and the supporting AACUS-Enabled UH-1 project also under ONR. This presentation provides updates on Aurora's latest accomplishments on these programs. Aurora’s VTOL X-plane configuration is 3-MW hybrid electric aircraft with a tilting wing and tilting canard. The aircraft propulsion system includes 24 variable pitch fans integrated in the wing and canard as well as a complement of fixed-wing control surfaces. Aurora designed and built a subscale vehicle demonstrator to exercise the flight control system in flight. The initial flight test campaign on the subscale aircraft demonstrated feasibility of the control system in low speed flight. Development of the flight control laws for transition from thrust-borne to high-speed wing-borne flight is complete, and progresses to flight test this year. To support autonomous flight test objectives of the AACUS program, Aurora completed design of an AACUS-enabled UH-1 testbed. The development process for the AACUS-enabled UH-1 provides a comparison between the traditional methods for modifying existing platforms for autonomous operation and the methods enabled by technologies developed under ALIAS program.