Optimal Variable Wing Camber Control using Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion

Flight control systems enable the improvement of natural flying qualities and airframe performance of an aircraft. In this article, an incremental optimization control scheme is proposed to optimize a given performance objective set by the designer in an online fashion using limited model information. This scheme is applied to improve the aerodynamic efficiency levels of the General Dynamics F-16 by optimizing symmetric movement of the leading edge flap (LEF) devices, based on an open-source nonlinear simulation model. Other design goals are addressed by refining the control objective, which explicitly embeds design trade-offs in the control law. A complete control architecture is arrived at through the design of a parallel INDI control law that performs the function
of angular rate control to improve natural flying qualities. A nonlinear simulation scenario shows that the proposed control framework is capable of meeting desired handling quality characteristics while simultaneously improving aerodynamic efficiency levels and control activity. In addition, a robustness assessment is performed to gain insight into the sensitivity of the design to
on-board model offsets.