Performance Evaluation of an Integrated Retrofit Failure Detection, Identification and Reconfiguration (FDIR) System Using High-Fidelity and Piloted Simulations

In this paper the results obtained under a NASA Dryden Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) project are described. At Scientific Systems Company, Inc. (SSCI) we developed an efficient Integrated Failure Detection, Identification and Reconfiguration (FDIR) system referred to as the FLARE (Fast on-Line Actuator REconfiguration) system. The FLARE system achieves very fast detection and identification of failures in Electro-Mechanical Actuators (EMA), and effective control reconfiguration in the presence of single or multiple failures and recoveries even while rejecting external disturbances. The FLARE system combines different FDIR algorithms with a disturbance rejection mechanism within a retrofit control architecture. In collaboration with Boeing Phantom Works, the performance of the FLARE system has been extensively evaluated using high-fidelity and piloted simulators.