Reconfigurable Handling & Flying Qualities for Degraded Flight Systems using Model Predictive Control

We shall develop a framework for the real-time synthesis, simulation and implementation of aircraft vehicle health and recon_guration management systems. On the base of a exible, powerful and theoretically well founded command and control infrastructure a relevant and cost e_ective in depth study on the handling and ying qualities of crippled aircraft can be performed. We shall make use and, where necessary, extend the latest theoretical results from nonlinear model based predictive control, linear parameter varying control, recon_guration and optimal trajectory generation in order develop an on-line self-repairing command and control systems for crippled aircraft. A system as such will enhance the on-board vehicle functionality up to autonomy extending in this way the operational safety of crippled aircraft. The innovation in this project in threefold, 1) in the incorporation of the failure phenomena into the model of the aircraft, 2)the estimation of the achievable level of performance and 3) the control system recon_guration to allow ight with degraded handling qualities. We aim at demonstrating the MPC concept on the ight 1882 El-Al accident, for which a high _delity mathematical Boeing-747 model, a complete damage model and full Black-Box ight data recordings are at our disposition.