About

Joseph Horn is a faculty member within Penn State's Department of Aerospace Engineering, which has a distinguished record of research excellence and scholarship. The department's research spans traditional disciplines associated with aeronautics and astronautics, with notable strengths in rotorcraft and aero-acoustics. The department is also expanding into new areas driven by increasing computational power for design, analysis, on-board autonomy, sustainable aviation, and space systems. As part of the department, Joseph Horn contributes to a vibrant research environment that includes large, multidisciplinary efforts and collaborations across the university and with external research labs. The faculty, including Horn, have received numerous awards and honors, such as society fellowships, distinguished society elections, and prestigious awards like the AIAA Aero Acoustics Award, Sperry Award, and the Collier Trophy, reflecting their significant contributions to aerospace research and innovation.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Aerospace engineering
• Engineering
• Aeronautics
• Environmental science
• Marine engineering
• Simulation
• Automotive engineering
• Geology

Selected publications

• Piloted Simulation Evaluation of Maneuver Optimization Control for a Tiltrotor Aircraft

  Proceedings of the Vertical Flight Society 78th Annual Forum · 2024

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Aeronautics
  • Aerospace engineering

  The Adaptive Digital Automated Pilotage Technology (ADAPTTM) flight control software package aims to take advantage of redundant controls to improve safety, survivability, and performance for advanced rotorcraft. Vehicle Maneuver Optimization (VMO) is one component of the ADAPTTM architecture intended to increase maneuverability. VMO uses feedforward actuation within the control null space of over-actuated aircraft to minimize power required during quasi-steady maneuvers. In this study, the system is applied to a generic tiltrotor aircraft and evaluated in piloted simulations at the Penn State Rotorcraft Simulator. In this application, VMO uses flap deployment and nacelle tilt to reduce power required in turn maneuvers. Piloted simulation results show that the system effectively reduces power required during Break Turn and Maximum Performance Turn Mission Task Elements (MTE), while handling qualities are equivalent to the baseline controller without VMO. The system was also tested for a terrain flight mission scenario. Pilot comments indicated better handling with VMO in the aggressive maneuvering phases of the flight.

  DOI

• Piloted Simulation Evaluation of Damage Tolerant Control for a Tiltrotor

  Proceedings of the Vertical Flight Society 78th Annual Forum · 2024

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Environmental science

  Advanced rotorcraft configurations currently being considered for Future Vertical Lift and Advanced Air Mobility applications typically feature redundant control effectors, which bring new opportunities for control design, including the ability to re-allocate control in response to failure or damage. This paper presents the design of damage tolerant control (DTC) for a generic utility-class tiltrotor using redistributed pseudo-inverse control allocation with axis prioritization. The damage tolerant control was integrated into full flight envelope control laws, and tested in a piloted simulation where pilots attempted to land the tiltrotor after damage in a cruise flight condition. Overall the results showed that damage tolerant control resulted in improved survivability ratings for the most severe damage cases. This work was done in support of the Adaptive Digital Automated Pilotage Technology (ADAPTTM) program which aims to develop a flight control software package to take advantage of redundant controls to improve safety, survivability, and performance for advanced vertical takeoff and landing capable aircraft.

  DOI

• Lift-Plus-Cruise Aircraft Modeling, Guidance, Adaptive Control, and Flight Simulation

  2024

  • Computer Science
  • Aeronautics
  • Computer Science

  In the rapidly evolving sectors of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM), there is an increasing need for technologies that can cater to both Department of Defense (DoD) and commercial applications. These applications range from logistics and supply delivery to disaster relief, search and rescue operations, air taxi services, and operations in underdeveloped areas. This paper presents the development and testing of an adaptive flight control system for lift-plus-cruise eVTOL aircraft, aimed at providing a smooth transition from hover/low-speed flight to forward/high-speed flight. The proposed framework consists of the aircraft model, the guidance system that translates pilot inceptor commands to control inputs, and the neural network adaptive controller that stabilizes the aircraft. The simulation is performed to demonstrate the robustness and adaptability of the system for UAM in diverse operational contexts.

  PublisherDOI

• An Investigation of Piloting and Flight Control Strategies on Generic eVTOL Noise

  Proceedings of the Vertical Flight Society 78th Annual Forum · 2022 · 4 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Engineering
  • Aerospace engineering

  A preliminary investigation of impact of piloting and flight control strategies on maneuver noise is conducted on a generic eVTOL configuration undergoing a 50 knot level-turn maneuver. The piloting strategy involved control of aircraft pitch to change split between rotor lift and wing lift, while the control strategy involved comparing a rotor thrust control with fixed pitch rotors operating with variable rotation rate and a rotor thrust control strategy with variable pitch rotors operating at constant angular velocity. With the rotors operating in the low tip-Mach number flow regime, it was revealed that broadband noise due to airfoil self-noise dominates the noise levels overwhelmingly. The turbulent boundary layer trailing edge noise contributed the most, with blade stall found to result in significant addition to noise levels (nearly 10 dBA). Deterministic noise was found to be sensitive to rotor thrust control strategies, with control biases offering an additional layer of influence over individual rotor tip-Mach number and thrust levels. Individual rotor thrust and trim were found to be important parameters controlling deterministic noise, while combined rotor thrust levels was found to be the important influence over time-averaged broadband noise levels.

  PublisherDOI

• Modeling of a Marine Hydrokinetic Cycloturbine Vehicle

  IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering · 2021 · 4 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Marine engineering
  • Aerospace engineering

  A marine hydrokinetic (MHK) cycloturbine is a renewable electric power generation system used in rivers or tidal environments to address the need for electricity in remote regions. MHK cycloturbines have hydrofoils oriented perpendicular to the flow in a paddlewheel configuration, and use lift generated from these foils to produce power. Due to the high cost associated with its operation and maintenance, an MHK system with four stacked counter-rotating turbines that can self-deploy and with propulsion and control mechanisms similar to a cycloturbine aircraft has been designed. A detailed turbine simulation model is necessary to understand the vehicle dynamics and assist in the design of the vehicle controllers. The simulation model solves the six degree-of-freedom rigid body equations of motion for the maneuvering MHK system subject to the hydrodynamic lift and drag forces, hydrostatic forces, and the propulsive forces from the turbines. The turbine propulsive force model is matched to computational fluid dynamics analysis and experimental data. Experimental work includes investigation at 1/5.56 scale of a single turbine rapid prototype device and a subscale demonstrator in a reverberant tank.

  PublisherDOI

• Tonal Noise Reduction for a Maneuverable Marine Hydrokinetic Cycloturbine Vehicle Using Turbine Clocking

  Journal of vibration and acoustics · 2020 · 4 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Acoustics
  • Marine engineering

  Abstract A Marine Hydrokinetic (MHK) cycloturbine vehicle can exploit tidal currents to generate sustainable power and also has the ability to station keep and maneuver. The vehicle consists of four counterrotating cycloturbines, which radiate sound underwater. Acoustic control is important to curtail the vehicle’s vibrations and acoustic signature, potentially preventing harmful effects on aquatic life, as well as to reduce the vehicle’s fatigue for longer deployment. A method of reducing the radiated acoustics of the vehicle is determined for tones at foil passing frequency and multiples, by means of clocking the blades between turbines. Experimental work includes testing of a subscale demonstrator in ARL’s Reverberant Tank facility. Fixing the subscale demonstrator to a reaction frame in the tank provides the ability to measure the generated loads using load cells. These measurements verify the effects of turbine clocking on the radiated acoustics.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• D. O. Bridges

  2 shared

• Doug Miller

  2 shared

• Grey Hagwood

  2 shared

• Tom Berger

  2 shared

• Christopher Hendrick

  1 shared

• Dooyong Lee

  Kyungpook National University

  1 shared

• Junfeng Yang

  Columbia University

  1 shared

• Venkatakrishnan Iyer

  Pennsylvania State University

  1 shared

Labs

• Vertical Lift and Rotorcraft Center of Excellence (VLRCOE)PI

Awards & honors

• AIAA Aero Acoustics Award (3)
• AIAA Sperry Award (2)
• AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Award
• Am Astronautical Society Brouwer Award
• AIAA de Florez Award in Flight Simulation

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