Neural control of the LoFLYTETM aircraft

The potential of neural flight control technology has been widely discussed. Such a system can: provide improved handling qualities and aircraft performance; automatic reconfiguration to compensate for aircraft failures and/or damage; and reduce the cost of control law design. The LoFLYTE^TM program was conceived with the goal of bringing this potential to fruition by developing: a unique neural control technology capable of achieving this potential in a flight worthy and certifiable system; and an aircraft whose ultimate success depends on the availability of such a control system. These two components are now coming together, with the design and simulation of the neural flight controller and the initial flight tests of the LoFLYTE ^TM aircraft, while flight testing of the neural flight control system in LoFLYTE^TM was scheduled for the Fall of 1997