ROBUST AUTOPILOT DESIGN METHODOLOGY SUITABLE FOR COMPUTER-AIDED IMPLEMENTATION

DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW AND REVOLUTIONARY AUTOPILOT DESIGN METHODOLOGY IS PROPOSED THAT WILL BE SIMPLE TO USE AND PROVIDES UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS OF ROBUTNESS AND PERFORMANCE. THE PROPOSED AUTOPILOT DESIGN METHODOLOGY IS BASED UPON FEEDBACK LINEARIZATION, WHEREIN TIME-DOMAIN PLANT INVERSION IS ACCOMPLISHED CONTINUOUSLY BY FEEDBACK OF STATE VARIABLES THAT APPEAR IN THE REDUCED-ORDER EQUATIONS OF MOTION. INTEGRATED SYSTEMS INC. (ISI) HAS INVESTED IN-HOUSE RESOURCES TO DEMONSTRATE SOME ROBUTNESS AND PERFORMANCE BENEFITS OF THE FEEDBACK LINEARIZATION SCHEME. THE OBSERVED ROBUTNESS TO LARGE ERRORS IN AERODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS WAS UNPRECEDENTED AS WELL AS UNEXPECTED. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A THEORY THAT EXPLAINS THE OBSERVED ROBUTNESS, AND TO PERFORM ANALYSES USING THIS THEORY THAT WILL DEFINE THAT PARAMETER SPACES THAT ARE CONSISTENT WITH GOOD ROBUSTNESS AND HIGH PERFORMANCE. IN ADDITION, WE WILL DEVELOP ESTIMATION SCHEMES FOR FEEDBACK VARIABLES THAT MAY BE IN-CONVENIENT TO MEASURE, ADDRESS DESIGN ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH ACTUATOR SATURATION, AND EVALUATE PERFORMANCE IN THE PRESENCE OF MEASUREMENT NOISE AND ERRORS.