Robust ground control for a comercial airplane
Aircraft systems are complex systems furnished with several control loops to aid in navigation and guarantee airplane stability despite the uncertainties (parameter variations, unstructured model inaccuracies, etc.) and perturbations (such as weather conditions, turbulence, and wind gust), thanks to Fly-By-Wire systems. In this context, control techniques with flight envelop protection algorithms have significantly improved flight performance and safety in civilian aircraft.
Much research has been done in this area. Still, there are open problems concerning the final approach and landing phases, where poor visibility and strong wind gust remain critical issues. Moreover, uncertainties in the runway path conditions (for instance, in an emergency landing).
Sliding mode and H-infinity control have proven their robustness separately when dealing with uncertain systems. This fact motivated some recent studies to merge both theories into a unique one. The goal is to propose a unified setting to tackle highly uncertain systems. However, fundamental problems in this unified theory still exist, the most critical ones being probably the lack of formal proof of stability and the way to specify the required control performance.
The goal of this thesis is twofold:
· From a theoretical point of view, the aim is to develop new theories within the unified sliding mode, and H-infinity set. Primarily, the stability of a joint sliding mode and H-infinity control will be investigated.
· In terms of application, this thesis concerns the implementation of sliding mode and H infinity techniques to tackle the on-ground maneuverability and stability of the aircraft guaranteeing a safe landing. The applicative support retained is the benchmark provided jointly by ONERA & AIRBUS France. This benchmark is based on a realistic civil transport aircraft in full configuration, whose characteristics are close to those of an Airbus A330*. The test scenarios will be selected to provide challenging assessment criteria to evaluate the potential of the sliding mode and H infinity method.
General work planning:
- review of state of the art on ground aircraft maneuverability problem
- analysis of the system's controllability considering the possible available actuators (differential braking, rudder, etc.)
- development of robust observers to estimate the runway conditions
- development of a sliding mode and H infinity control theory that will be tested in an industrial simulator
- scientific articles writing
Framework
The Ph.D. thesis will be co-supervised with an IPN professor. Moreover, Dr. Jerome Cieslak and Prof. David Henry, specialists in H infinity control theories and aircraft applications (14 patents with Airbus France with one algorithm currently flying in the A350XWB) from the IMS Lab, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, Fr., are involved in the project.
Candidate profile
- Ms. Eng. Or Ms. Sc. Degree in control systems, electrical, electronic, mechatronic or aerospace, etc.
- Good English level (French is not mandatory).
- Strong analytical and communications skills.
How to apply
Candidates must send a detailed CV and motivation letter to supervisor Dra. Alejandra Ferreira de Loza dferreira@citedi.mx. The full instructions of the PhD call can be checked at
Starting date
Flexible starting date, August or February.
Grant:
Accepted students may apply for a CONACyT grant.
Place:
Tijuana, B.C., Mx. and Bordeaux, Fr.
Dr. Alejandra Ferreira de Loza
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alejandra_Ferreira_de_Loza
References
[1] J-M. Biannic and P. Apkarian. (2001) A new approach to fixed-order H∞ synthesis : Application to autoland design. In Proceedings of the AIAA GNC, Montreal, Canada, August.
[2] Edwards, C., Lombaerts. Smaili, H. (2010) Fault tolerant flight control. Lecture notes in control and information sciences, No. 399 Springuer-Verlag.
[3] J.M. Biannic and J. Boada-Bauxell, A civilian aircraft landing challenge (IFAC, 2017) https://www.ifac2017.org/sites/www.ifac2017.org/files/IFAC17_0017_MS_TC23.pdf
[4] Delprat, S., & Ferreira De Loza, A. (2014). High order sliding mode control for hybrid vehicle stability. International Journal of Systems Science, 45(5), 1202-1212.
[5] Ferreira de Loza, A., Cieslak, J., Henry, D., Dávila, J., & Zolghadri, A. (2015). Sensor fault diagnosis using a non[1]homogeneous high-order sliding mode observer with application to a transport aircraft. IET Control Theory and Applications, 9(4), 598-607.
[6] S. Bezzaoucha and D. Henry (2015). An LMI approach for the Integral Sliding Mode and Hinfinity State Feedback Control Problem". Journal of Physics. Conference series.
[7] A. Zolghadri, D. Henry, J. Cieslak, D. Efimov and P. Goupil. (2013) "Fault Diagnosis and Fault-Tolerant Control and Guidance for Aerospace Vehicles: From theory to Application". Series: "Advances in Industrial Control". Eds. Springer London. ISBN 978-1-4471-5312-2.
[8] F. Castanos and L. Fridman, "Analysis and design of integral sliding manifolds for systems with unmatched perturbations," in IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 853-858, May 2006, doi: 10.1109/TAC.2006.875008.