Full-altitude attitude angles envelope and model predictive control-based attitude angles protection for civil aircraft

This paper aims to address the dual-input problem for civil aircraft equipped with side-sticks. A concept of full-altitude attitude angles envelope is firstly proposed; at low altitude this envelope protects the aircraft from striking ground, while at high altitude it restricts attitude angles within a threshold to guarantee passenger-ride qualities. Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy is utilized in this paper; at each operation point, given linearized dynamics of the aircraft, cost function and inequalities constraints for MPC are specified, associated control laws are generated. Flight simulation investigates the performance of MPC protection laws; two flight records at high altitude and a record simulating the take-off and landing process are presented. Based on the test records, the proposed MPC-based protection framework is considered to be applicable. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.