Multidisciplinary Optimization of Unmanned Aircraft in a System of Systems Context

This paper explores the use of Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) in the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) when the requirements include a collaboration in a System of Systems (SoS) environment. In this work, the framework considers models that can capture the mission, stealth, and surveillance performance of each aircraft, while at the same time, a dedicated simulation module assesses the total cooperation effect on a given operational scenario. The resulting mixed continuous and integer variable problem is decomposed with a multi-level architecture, and in particular, it is treated as a fleet allocation problem that includes a nested optimization routine for sizing a “yet-to-be-designed” aircraft. Overall, the models and the framework are evaluated through a series of optimization runs, and the obtained Pareto front is compared with the results from a traditional aircraft mission planning method in order to illustrate the benefits of this SoS approach in the design of UAVs