Internal Algorithm Monitors for Adaptive Systems

The safe flight of aircraft under abnormal and damaged flight conditions is the subject of research being conducted under NASA’s Aviation Safety Program, in the Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control (IRAC) Project. Much of this work has focused on the design of adaptive architectures as an augmentation mechanism for traditional feedback controllers. While the field of adaptive control has a long, some 60 year, history of academic analysis, the implementation of these algorithms is still a challenge. This work does not specifically address the challenges associated with the implementation of adaptive control. However, it proposes a method for monitoring the internal signals of adaptive systems to provide a leading indicator of unexpected behavior. This will allow for the safe testing of adaptive algorithms on experimental testbeds.