CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN USING SPREADSHEETS

Abstract

The design of the mechanical control system for a light aircraft or glider can be very complicated. Specific elements such as the flap-aileron mixer are especially problematic. There exist a number of CAD programs that can simplify this matter. These programs are however not free and it is often not justified to buy a program for a single problem. Today almost everybody has access to a spreadsheet that comes as a standard desktop tool. This paper shows that it is possible to model complex mechanical control systems quickly and easily on a spreadsheet. The whole system is graphically visible and control movements can be interactively changed with the mouse. The powerful optimisation routines build into the spreadsheet allows the system to be optimised and refined in a fraction of the time possible with other methods. The paper shows how a flap-aileron mixer for a new 18m-class glider was developed using this method.