OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Hypersonics The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project is to develop and prototype a magnetic field scenario generation system that can be used to drive software- and hardware-in-the-loop test configurations for magnetic field based alternate navigation systems. The system required will interface with existing magnetic field emulation hardware to provide calibrated phenomenology representative of the vector field induced by the Earth's crust and other dynamic environmental sources as sensed by aerospace platforms performing a wide range of Air Force missions. DESCRIPTION: An active area of research in AFRL is the use of the Earth's magnetic field variations as a means for navigation. This technique is thought to be used in nature by animals during long migrations and has been explored by AFRL, MIT, and others as a possible alternative to conventional GPS-based guidance. Given the interest in this area, AFRL has also been exploring development of laboratory simulation capabilities for the purpose of testing navigation systems as an integral part of the guidance and control of aircraft, weapons, and other aerospace assets. This type of navigation research and development is enabled by digital simulations and real-time Software-In-the-Loop (SIL) and Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulation environments. Recently, the Kinetic-kill Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulation (KHILS) facility at Eglin AFB developed a 3-D vector field simulator, the Magnetic field Navigation Integration Testbed (MagNIT) to demonstrate HIL capability for future Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) technologies. While much progress has been made, challenges remain in development of the simulator control system, i.e., User Interface for simulator configuration and calibration, Real-Time Simulation Engine for accurate real-time field generation, Run-time Interface development, environment and self-induced Field Contamination Modeling, and Data Logging. Essential to this capability will be review and implementation of magnetic field models to form the basis of simulations. Numerous magnetic field models exist, e.g., the World Magnetic Model, the Enhanced Magnetic Model, International Geomagnetic Reference Field, etc. One challenge for testing will be to establish maturity and robustness of navigation algorithms that are trained on databases that are known to be continuously changing over time. Another challenge is calibration to deal with the laboratory environment and establishing what facility controls and modifications are necessary to provide an accurate test environment. Another is emulation of fields induced by the sensing platform as it dynamically performs a mission, rapidly changing attitude and altitude using electrically driven control systems and actuators. These processes, along with the more fundamental User and Facility interface functionality, must be instantiated and demonstrated under this activity. Validation test cases are required to demonstrate accuracy of the simulator and viability of the simulation process. The described capability must be adaptable to operate in a digital signal injection mode, an analog signal injection mode, and as a driver for the existing KHILS MagNIT HIL simulator. Innovative solutions, based on demonstrated experience in GN&C, HIL Testing, E-M Phenomenology, Calibration processes, and Software Development, are desired to develop and demonstrate effective and efficient processes for validated magnetic field simulation. PHASE I: Establish simulator functional requirements and modes of operation. Document facility interface requirements and characterize the test facility environment. Research available databases to use to present sufficiently accurate and relevant crust magnetic field data at altitudes of interest. Establish Use Cases and range of vehicle dynamics. Research validation data sets for assessing simulator calibration accuracy. Document range of potential airframe induced interference magnitudes and dynamics and potential modeling strategies to represent dynamic fields resulting from servos, motors, etc. Develop and build a prototype system to demonstrate baseline functional capability at TRL 4. Demonstrate software externally driven with an appropriate flight profile and using playback of canned flight profiles interfaced to the MagNIT, or an appropriate emulation, with data logging. Build a plan to improve performance, fidelity, and integration into simulation frameworks in order to interface with sensors and the AFRL owned MagNIT. PHASE II: Build improved prototype of the magnetic field generation controller with User Interface and full operational functionality (TRL 7). Demonstrate all calibration functions in connection to the MagNIT to validate facility constraints and/or modifications and upgrades required to meet future test requirements. Demonstrate real-time operation using 6DOF state data from a HIL simulator through an appropriate interface. 1) Demonstrate magnetic field vector sensor emulation for injection into a processing system, as in a software-in-the-loop simulation. 2) Demonstrate driving the AFRL owned magnetic field generation system (MagNIT). Execute validation test cases and document results with all developed procedures and solutions. Establish and document limitations and required improvements for the MagNIT simulator. Demonstrate prototype system in real-world conditions with full range of potential conditions: Airframe attitude dynamics Field perturbation dynamics Velocities Arbitrary global locations and trajectories Atmospheric induced anomalies Document software in User Manual, Technical Manual, Programmer's Manual so that source code can be modified by the government for future interface and compatibility upgrades. Establish transition plan for other government agencies and contractors. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Develop a commercial capability to deliver software to DoD and contractors to accurately simulate Earth crust magnetic fields that will run at real-time at TRL 8. Software should be portable, flexible, and able to integrate to most hardware-in-the-loop facilities, software-in-the-loop facilities, and for non-real-time software algorithm testing. REFERENCES: Enhanced Magnetic Model (EMM) https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/EMM/; A. J. Canciani, Magnetic Navigation on an F-16 Aircraft using Online Calibration, IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst., pp. 1 15, 2021, doi: 10.1109/TAES.2021.3101567; A. R. Gnadt, Machine Learning-Enhanced Magnetic Calibration for Airborne Magnetic Anomaly Navigation, in AIAA SCITECH 2022 Forum, 2022, pp. 1 16, doi: 10.2514/6.2022-1760; Contract No.: FA864920C0317 STTR Phase II Proposal No.: F19A-018-0018 Hardware-in-the-Loop Test Bed for Magnetic Field Navigation Preliminary Final Report; Ewing, Craig, The Advanced Guided Weapn Testbed (AGWT) at the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate, AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference, August 2009, https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2009-6129.; KEYWORDS: Magnetic field in Earth's crust; Alternative Navigation; Magnetic navigation; Real-time processing; Closed-loop simulation; Hardware-in-the-loop; Hypersonic; Signal injection
