Robust actuator fault-tolerant control using DK-Iteration: Theory and application to UAS

Abstract

This paper proposes a fault-tolerant control (FTC) approach for unknown actuator faults based on robust control theory. The µ-analysis is used to infer closed-loop stability against different actuator faults. Further, an adapted DK-iteration approach is used to compute a guaranteed robustly stable FTC, given an actuator redundant system. The performance of the new control approach is verified in simulation with a flight of a fixed-wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) and compared against a classical hierarchical PID controller for different fault scenarios. Finally, the algorithm is verified in a real-flight experiment with an UAS.