AN EXPERT SYSTEM APPROACH TO GLOBAL FAULT DETECTION AND ISOLATION DESIGN

RECONFIGURABLE FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEMS COMPENSATE FOR THE EFFECTS OF ONBOARD HARDWARE FAILURE AND SURFACE DAMAGE CONDITIONS USING INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY A GLOBAL FAULT DETECTION AND ISOLATION SYSTEM. A GLOBAL FDI ALGORITHM PERFORMS ITS FUNCTION BY ASSESSING THE GLOBAL EFFECTS OF A HARDWARE FAULT AND SURFACE DAMAGE ON THE CLOSED-LOOP AIRCRAFT DYNAMICS. SINCE CHANGES IN THE FLIGHT CONTROL LAW AFFECT THE SIGNATURE OF A HARDWARE FAULT AND SURFACE DAMAGE, THE DESIGN OF A GLOBAL FDI ALGORITHM IS DEPENDENT ON THE FLIGHT CONTROL LAW PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS. HENCE, IT IS DESIRABLE TO AUTOMATE THE GLOBAL FDI DESIGN PROCESS IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE DEVELOPMENT TIME, COST AND RISK FOR ADVANCED FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEMS. HERE, WE PROPOSE THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION OF A GLOBAL FDI DESIGN ASSISTANT BASED ON EXPERT SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY. SUCH A SYSTEM WOULD INCORPORATE AN EXTENSIVE DATA BASE OF FAILURE DETECTION AND ISOLATION DETAILS AND PROCEDURES, ENCAPSULATE AERODYNAMIC MODELLING AND FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM KNOWLEDGE, AND BE CAPABLE OF SUGGESTING DESIGN REITERATION PROCEDURES TO THE USER. A SECONDARY OBJECTIVE OF OUR PROPOSED STUDY IS TO INVESTIGATE HOW EXPERT SYSTEMS CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FDI ALGORITHMS.