A model following inverse controller with adaptive compensation for general aviation aircraft

by Bruner, Hugh S.

The theory for an adaptive inverse flight controller, suitable for use on General Aviation aircraft, is developed in this research. The objectives of this controller are to separate the normally coupled modes of the basic aircraft and thereby permit direct control of airspeed and flight-path angle, meet prescribed performance characteristics as defined by damping ratio and natural frequency, adapt to uncertainties in the physical plant, and be computationally efficient. The three basic elements of the controller are a linear prefilter, an inverse transfer function, and an adaptive neural network compensator. The linear prefilter shapes accelerations required of the overall system in order to achieve the desired system performance characteristics. The inverse transfer function is used to compute the aircraft control inputs required to achieve the necessary accelerations. The adaptive neural network compensator is used to compensate for modeling errors during design or real-time changes in the physical plant. This architecture is patterned after the work of Calise, but differs by not requiring dynamic feedback of the state variables. The controller is coded in ANSI C and integrated with a simulation of a typical General Aviation aircraft. Twenty-three cases are simulated to prove that the objectives for the controller are met. Among these cases are simulated stability and controllability failures in the physical plant, as well as several simulated failures of the neural network. With the exception of some bounded speed-tracking error, the controller is capable of continued flight with any foreseeable failure of the neural network. Recommendations are provided for follow-on investigations by other researchers. v