MMAE-based control redistribution applied to the VISTA F-16

A control technique, termed control redistribution, is presented and applied in conjunction with multiple model adaptive estimation (MMAE) to the variable in-flight stability test aircraft (VISTA) F-16, to detect and compensate for sensor and/or actuator failures. This ad hoc method redistributes control commands (that would normally be sent to failed actuators) to the non-failed actuators, accomplishing the same control action on the aircraft. Dither is considered to help disambiguate failures in the longitudinal and lateral-directional channels. Detection of both single-actuator and single-sensor failures is considered. Failures are demonstrated detectable in less than one second, with an aircraft output nearly identical to that anticipated from a fully functional aircraft in the same environment