Fault-tolerant RS-LQR based Yaw Control for Distributed Electric Propulsion Aircraft

Abstract

In this paper, fault-tolerant control is designed for yaw control of a distributed electric propulsion aircraft such as NASA X-57. To minimize the effect on the aircraft's response to faults in several electric propulsors during the yaw control, an RS-LQR control strategy that equalizes the yaw moments produced by each propulsor is proposed. Firstly, real-time fault detection of the electric propulsors is performed, and upon detecting a fault, the RS-LQR controller is reconfigured to stabilize the aircraft. Computer simulations are conducted to compare the proposed control strategy with a conventional control strategy where the yawing moments of electric propulsors are not necessarily equal to each other. The results demonstrate that using the proposed control strategy significantly minimizes the effect on the aircraft's response to propulsor faults compared to the conventional strategy.