Verification and Validation of Neuro-Adaptive Aircraft Control Systems

Dr. Johann Schumann will be an invited plenary speaker at the North American Simulation Technology Conference (NASTEC 2008), to be held at McGill University, Montreal, Canada August 13-15. He will talk on “Verification and Validation of Neuro-adaptive Aircraft Control Systems.”

In his talk, Dr Schumann will briefly introduce adaptive flight control and discuss the specific challenges for the verification and validation (V&V) of such systems. He will then present the Ames-developed Confidence tool, which dynamically estimates the neural network performance and safety envelope using a Bayesian approach, discuss the V&V approach taken with this tool, and show some results of the flight experiments.

BACKGROUND: Traditional fixed-gain control has often proven to be unsuccessful for dealing with complex, strongly nonlinear, or changing systems such as a damaged aircraft. As performance and safety guarantees cannot be provided at development time, novel tools and approaches to support V&V and certification had to be developed. Control systems, which use a neural network that can adapt toward changes in the plant, offer many advantages and have been actively investigated. The Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) project has implemented and successfully test-flown an online adaptive controller on a manned F-15 aircraft at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

NASA PROGRAM FUNDING: Next Generation Air Transportation System, ARMD

Contact: Johann Schumann

08/21/2008

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