An MMAE failure detection system for the F-16

A multiple model adaptive estimation (MMAE) algorithm is implemented with the fully nonlinear six-degree-of-motion, Simulation Rapid-Prototyping facility (SRF) VISTA F-16 software simulation tool. The algorithm is composed of a bank of Kalman filters modeled to match particular hypotheses of the real world. Each presumes a single failure in one of the flight-critical actuators, or sensors, and one presumes no failure. For dual failures, a hierarchical structure is used to keep the number of on-line filters to a minimum. The algorithm is demonstrated to be capable of identifying flight-critical aircraft actuator and sensor failures at a low dynamic pressure (20,000 ft, 0.4 Mach). Research includes single and dual complete failures. Tuning methods for accommodating model mismatch, including addition of discrete dynamics pseudonoise and measurement pseudonoise, are discussed and demonstrated. Scalar residuals within each filter are also examined and characterized for possible use as an additional failure declaration voter. An investigation of algorithm performance off the nominal design conditions is accomplished as a first step towards full flight envelope coverage.