The need for less and less polluting aviation is pushing important innovations into the design of the next generation of civil aircraft. Namely, all of the major manufacturers are investigating airplane concepts featuring high aspect-ratio wings (HARW), which will allow cutting fuel consumption by means of a significant reduction in lift-induced drag. These vehicles will feature slender and very flexible wings, which will require active feedback control for vibration reduction and avoidance of excessive loads. The wings of the future will have multiple sets of ailerons for this purpose.
References
H. Fournier, P. Massioni, M.T. Pham, L. Bako, R. Vernay, Reduced order identification of aeroelastic systems with constrained and imposed poles. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Volume 46, Issue 6, June 2023, pages 1038–1051.
H. Fournier, P. Massioni, M.T. Pham, L. Bako, R. Vernay, M. Colombo, Robust gust load alleviation of flexible aircraft equipped with lidar, Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Volume 45, Issue 1, January 2022, pages 58–72.