Introducing DAIMYO: A Dynamic Design Architecture and Its Application to Unmanned Aerial System Development

In recent years, there has been a notable evolution in various multidisciplinary design methodologies for dynamic systems. Among these approaches, a noteworthy concept is that of concurrent conceptual and control design, or codesign. This approach involves the tuning of feedforward and/or feedback control strategies in conjunction with the conceptual design of the dynamic system. The primary aim is to discover integrated solutions that surpass those attainable through a disjointed or decoupled approach. This concurrent design paradigm exhibits particular promise in the context of hybrid unmanned aerial systems (UAS), such as tail-sitters, where the objectives of versatility (driven by control considerations) and efficiency (influenced by conceptual design) often present conflicting demands. Nevertheless, a persistent challenge lies in the potential disparity between the theoretical models that underpin the design process and the real-world operational environment, the so-called reality gap. Such disparities can lead to suboptimal performance when the designed system is deployed in reality. To address this issue, this paper introduces DAIMYO, a novel design architecture that incorporates a high-fidelity environment, which emulates real-world conditions, into the procedure in pursuit of a first-time-right design. The outcome of this innovative approach is a design procedure that yields versatile and efficient UAS designs capable of withstanding the challenges posed by the sim-to-real gap.