Application of non-parametric methods for integrity monitoring of flight control systems

A method to monitor the integrity of flight control systems was developed and demonstrated. It is based on frequency response function estimates that are computed online with the transient local polynomial method. Confidence regions are derived and related to robust stability criteria to assess the probability of stability. Different from previous non-parametric approaches, the algorithm accounts for non-zero initial- and final conditions, colored noise and can be applied to open- and closed loop systems; when compared to parametric approaches, it is simpler, as no parametric model is required. The validity of the confidence regions is verified with Monte Carlo simulations. The usability to monitor changes of the plant dynamics is demonstrated by an example with changing dynamics. (C) 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.