Aircraft Control During Cruise Flight in Windshear Conditions: Viability Approach

Nikolai Botkin, Varvara Turova, Johannes Diepolder, Matthias Bittner, Florian Holzapfel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper addresses the analysis of aircraft control capabilities during the cruise phase (flying at the established level with practically constant configuration and speed) in the presence of windshears. The study uses a point-mass aircraft model describing flight in a vertical plane. The problem is formulated as a differential game against wind disturbances. The first player, autopilot, controls the angle of attack and the power setting, whereas the second player, wind, produces dangerous gusts. The state variables of the model are subjected to constraints expressing aircraft safety conditions. Namely, the altitude, path inclination, and velocity are constrained. Viability theory is used to find the so-called viability kernel, the maximal subset of the state constraint where the aircraft trajectories can remain arbitrary long if the first player utilizes an appropriate feedback control, and the second player generates any admissible disturbances. The computations are based on grid methods developed by the authors and implemented on a multiprocessor computer system.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)594-608
Number of pages15
JournalDynamic Games and Applications
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2017

Keywords

  • Cruise flight
  • Differential game
  • Grid method
  • Viability kernel

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