Autonomous reconfigurable flight control system design using control allocation

A new autonomous reconfigurable control scheme using control allocation is proposed in this paper. The shortcomings of other adaptive reconfigurable control methods, such as neural networks and sliding modes, are analyzed. On the other hand, the merits of control allocation based reconfiguration methods are given out. The dynamic control allocation method and a weighting matrix autonomous adjustment strategy are designed for control reconfiguration in the face of actuator damage faults. The validity of the proposed scheme is illustrated by the F18 HARV aircraft model. Simulation results show that autonomous reconfigurable flight control via control allocation can be carried out in the presence of actuator faults and satisfactory system performance can be obtained. The sequential quadratic programming method is used simultaneously in simulation for the sake of comparisons with the dynamic control allocation approach. Simulation results demonstrate the advantages of the latter for reconfigurable flight control.