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CEAS EuroGNC 2024

Verification & Validation (V&V) of Reinforcement Learning based Online Adaptive Flight Control Laws on CS-25 Class Aircraft
Ramesh Konatala Research Associate, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of System Dynamics and Control, 82234, Weßling, Germany.
Reiko Müller Research Associate, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of System Dynamics and Control, 82234, Weßling, Germany.
Marc May Research Associate, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of System Dynamics and Control, 82234, Weßling, Germany.
Gertjan Looye Head of Department, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of System Dynamics and Control, 82234, Weßling, Germany.
Erik-Jan van Kampen Associate Professor, Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS Delft, Netherlands.
Abstract:
Unforeseen faults during flight can lead to Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I), a significant cause of fatal aircraft accidents worldwide. Current offline synthesized, model based flight control methods have limited capability to adapt to unforeseen situations. From a fault tolerance perspective, the Incremental Approximate Dynamic Programming (iADP) controller serves as an ideal model-agnostic, online adaptive control method. This method integrates an online identified locally linearized incremental model with a Reinforcement Learning (RL) based optimization technique, to minimize an infinite horizon quadratic cost-to-go. A key challenge which limits the adoption of these self-learning control methods for flight control is V&V through flight testing. This study addresses the problem by exploring tools, methods and framework for V&V of the online adaptive Flight control law on a CS-25 class Citation-II passenger aircraft. These flight tests mark world's first demonstration of an online RL based automatic Flight Control System (FCS) for this aircraft category, demonstrating real-time learning and adaptation capabilities.
Keywords: Verification and Validation (V&V); Reinforcement Learning; Online Adaptive Flight Control; Flight Testing
 View PDF CEAS-GNC-2024-062


Ramesh Konatala, Reiko Müller, Marc May, Gertjan Looye, Erik-Jan van Kampen: Verification & Validation (V&V) of Reinforcement Learning based Online Adaptive Flight Control Laws on CS-25 Class Aircraft. Proceedings of the 2024 CEAS EuroGNC conference. Bristol, UK. June 2024. CEAS-GNC-2024-062.
BibTeX entry:

@Incollection{CEAS-GNC-2024-062,
    author = {Konatala, Ramesh and M\"uller, Reiko and May, Marc and Looye, Gertjan and van Kampen, Erik-Jan},
    title = {Verification & Validation (V&V) of Reinforcement Learning based Online Adaptive Flight Control Laws on CS-25 Class Aircraft},
    booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2024 {CEAS EuroGNC} conference},
    address = {Bristol, UK},
    month = jun,
    year = {2024},
    note = {CEAS-GNC-2024-062}
}