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A multi-model and multi-objective approach to the design of helicopter flight control laws

CEAS Aeronautical Journal (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

This study addresses the design of a full-authority Attitude Command-Attitude Hold flight control system for the Bo-105 helicopter. A single sixth-order dynamic controller replaces the PID-based arrangement that usually forms the core of rotorcraft flight control systems. The proposed design methodology combines multi-model and multi-objective approaches within the framework of structured \(H_\infty\) software tools. Owing to the multi-model approach, only two sets of gains are sufficient to cover the entire speed range between hover and maximum velocity. In addition, \(\mu\)-analysis tools can be used in conjunction with this approach to improve robustness against parametric uncertainties. Simultaneously, the multi-objective approach facilitates the design process and establishes connections between the tuning parameters and handling qualities. The performance of the resulting flight control system is investigated in this study, and evaluated against the attitude quickness, bandwidth and inter-axis coupling criteria, as defined by ADS-33. The resulting design achieves Level 1 performance in most cases. Besides, the merits and limitations of the proposed methodology are discussed in this paper.

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  1. Chaville, France

    Patrick Authié

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  1. Patrick Authié
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Correspondence to Patrick Authié.

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Authié, P. A multi-model and multi-objective approach to the design of helicopter flight control laws. CEAS Aeronaut J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-023-00675-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-023-00675-w

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