Flight test of fault-tolerant flight control system using simple adaptive control with PID controller

Purpose - This paper aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of a fault-tolerant flight control method by using simple adaptive control (SAC) with PID controller. Design/methodology/approach - Numerical simulations and flight tests are executed for pitch angle and roll angle control of research aircraft MuPAL-alpha under the following fault cases: sudden reduction in aileron effectiveness, sudden reduction in elevator effectiveness and loss of longitudinal static stability. Findings - The simulations and flight tests reveal the effectiveness of the proposed SAC with PID controller as a fault-tolerant flight controller. Practical implications - This research includes implications for the development of vehicles' robustness. Originality/value - This study proposes novel SAC-based flight controller and actually demonstrates the effectiveness by flight test.