Control and development of an electrical systems evaluation platform for uninhabited autonomous vehicles

This paper describes a new control strategy for an aircraft electrical systems evaluation platform. The 100 kVA, experimental facility includes multiple generators and power electronic loads interconnected by a high-voltage dc bus, centrally controlled by a real-time computer and data logging system. The Facility is to allow electrical power management techniques to be developed for future autonomous aircraft. The control of the facility presents important challenges as it has to be flexible, facilitating future expansion, robust, safe, and yet allow the development of advanced control strategies.