Computer-aided design of flight control systems

Abstract : A comprehensive computer program for designing and evaluating multidisciplinary aircraft flight control systems is described. The FlightCAD program contains a variety of modeling, synthesis, analysis, and simulation alternatives. The program will be used to produce a control design for the 1991 AIAA Controls Design Challenge (to be completed in 1992). FlightCAD ultimately will implement a number of control design techniques; here it uses direct digital synthesis to produce a robust, proportional-integral-filter controller with scheduled linear-quadratic-Gaussian gains and command generator tracking of pilot inputs. The FlightCAD design approach is reviewed, and a status report is presented.