MMAE-based control redistribution applied to the VISTA F-16

A novel control technique, termed control redistribution, is presented and applied in conjunction with multiple model adaptive estimation (MMAE) to the variable in-night stability test aircraft (VISTA) F-16, to detect and compensate for sensor and/or actuator failures. This ad hoc method redistributes control commands (that would normally be sent to failed actuators) to the nonfailed actuators, accomplishing the same control action on the aircraft. Dither is considered to help disambiguate failures in the longitudinal and lateral-directional channels. Detection of both single-actuator and single-sensor failures is considered. Failures are demonstrated detectable in less than 1 s, with an aircraft output nearly identical to that anticipated from a fully functional aircraft in the same environment.