ADVANCED AIRCRAFT FLIGHT CONTROL USING NONLINEAR INVERSE DYNAMICS

A series of studies concerning the control of aircraft using nonlinear inverse dynamics based control techniques is presented. Following a s ummary of the inverse dynamics control theory, a design procedure for effective use of the method for flight control is generated. The novel features of the design have included the direct incorporation of hand ling qualities specification in the controller synthesis, the special considerations necessary for the inclusion of flap like direct force c ontrol devices (e.g. spoilers), and the introduction of 'principal con troller' design for the efficient synthesis of multimode control syste ms using NID control. Detailed derivations of the symbolic inverse dyn amics of the aircraft are given. The end result is a flight control sy stem which satisfies handling qualities requirements and comprises mis sion-defined control modes for active control of the aircraft using no nlinear spoilers. Its success and effectiveness are demonstrated throu gh simulation.