Aspects of Multivariable Flight Control Law Design for Helicopters Using Eigenstructure Assignment

Abstract

Flight control law design for actively controlled rotorcraft presents difficult problems due to the complexities of the system dynamics and the range of design objectives to be met. The use of multivariable control techniques must be tailored to both of these aspects of control law design. The aim of this paper is to survey the wide range of control law design objectives which need to be addressed and to show that they can be satisfied using multivariable techniques. In order to put the discussion of design objectives in context, an eigenstructure assignment algorithm for decoupled tracking systems is presented, along with a brief description of the system dynamics and their influence on the flight control law design.