Real time and high fidelity controller design for Hardware In the Loop (HIL) testing of flight attitude control

The objective of this paper is to perform Hardware In the Loop (HIL) test for Flight Control Systems to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed controller. Testing of a dynamic and complex real time embedded system is a challenge for an engineer, particularly in the field of avionics where, complexity of design and huge cost is involved. These challenges are addressed by the HIL technique. HIL simulation provides an excellent platform by adding the complexity of the plant under control to the test platform. Proper selection of controller components will play a vital role in the controller performance in real time. Prior to the implementation of any physical system, it is better to test the behavior of the system in real environment. Hence, the paper proposes the usage of statistical tools such as Monte Carlo (MC) in selecting proper component for the controller and testing the controller in real time. The MC will also tighten the tolerances of components which have more impact on the response. Hence, proposed test can facilitate the analysis of controller in these conditions and leads to design of a robust controller. PID controllers provide robust and reliable performance for most of the systems provided PID gain parameters are tuned properly. Especially in the avionics applications the controller must provide quick and smooth control while strictly avoiding sudden and erratic behavior. Proposed design in this paper facilitates the development of such a robust controller.