Modeling of a Tethered Testbed for a VTVL Vehicle

This paper proposes an algorithm for modeling a three-dimensional tethered environment for testing vertical-take off, vertical landing vehicles. The method is able to take several geometrical configurations into account and combines the classical catenary model with the elasticity theory to predict the forces acting on the lander in quasistatic conditions, i.e., in conditions of hovering, where the motion of the vehicle is reduced. Numerical results confirm that the method is potentially able to provide real-time solutions, which can be included as feedforward contributions in the design of tethered experiments.