Adaptation-based reconfiguration in the presence of actuator failures and saturation

In this paper, a direct-adaptive flight controller is proposed to enable reconfiguration in the presence of actuator failures, environmental disturbances, and modeling errors. The controller combines reconfiguration and control allocation. In addition, a multivariable saturation compensation technique is introduced to preserve stability in the presence of control saturation phenomena. An adaptation law is derived for which it is conjectured that the closed-loop system states and controller gains remain bounded, provided that sufficient control authority exists. Benefits of the proposed design are demonstrated using a linearized six degree of freedom simulation model of a large, four engine transport aircraft.