Comparative Study of Different Algorithms for a Flight Control System Design and the Potentiality of Their Integration with a Sidestick

Abstract

The modern trend of developing highly automated aircraft is characterized by a transition from traditional methods and technical solutions to innovative approaches in order to control the system, inceptor and display design. This paper deals with the development and comparison of flight control system algorithms based on inverse dynamics, H-infinity and traditional feedback methods. The integration of a controller based on inverse dynamics with a novel type of sidestick, shaping the pilot output signal such that it is proportional to the control force (force sensing control—FSC), is studied. The inverse dynamics-based controller is chosen, as it provides a variance of error that is up to 2.3 times less than that of the feedback gains and up to 1.5 times less than that of the H-infinity controller in a pitch tracking task. The synergetic effect arising from the proposed integration is also evaluated. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the methods is carried out through mathematical modeling of the pilot–aircraft system and ground-based simulations on a helicopter mathematical model in a pitch tracking task.

Keywords

• pilot–aircraft system
• H-infinity
• inverse dynamics
• ground-based simulation
• sidestick