Aircraft actuators control and testing

Thanks to the facilities of the Aircraft System Laboratory, different experimental studies can be carried out on aircraft
actuators, e.g. performance testing, dynamic stiffness testing and temperature testing.
Concerning the flight performance testing, a virtual iron-bird allowing real-time/hardware-in-the-loop/man-in-the-loop
simulations of Fly-by-Wire Flight Control Systems (FBW/FCS) is used (see the Real-time/hardware-in-the-loop
simulations section). The actuator under test is mounted on the hydraulic workbench, which is equipped with a load
actuator simulating aerodynamic and inertial forces, and its performances are studied via manoeuvre simulation or other
specific tests. The plant includes a closed-loop force control that provides appropriate bandwidth and low sensitivity to
flight actuator movements [7, 8].
Dynamic stiffness tests are instead performed to provide information about possible aeroservoelastic interactions
between actuator, aircraft structure and unsteady aerodynamic forces. The actuator under test is mounted on a servohydraulic rig, controlled to hold a fixed position and loaded with sinusoidal forces of different amplitudes and frequencies.
The actuator displacement response is thus used to derive the equipment stiffness as a function of the load frequency
[23].
Concerning the temperature testing, it allows to characterise and study the actuator behaviour at different environmental
temperatures, which can be a crucial point for targeting the equipment performance specifications. In this case, the
actuator under test is placed into a thermal chamber (able to work from -75C to 180C), supplied with hydraulic/electrical
power, and, once the chamber temperature has reached the desired temperature, tested in terms of both static and
dynamic conditions [24].

Real-time/hardware-in-the-loop simulations

The Aircraft Systems Laboratory is equipped with a virtual iron-bird allowing real-time/hardware-in-the-loop/man-in-the-loop simulations of Fly-by-Wire Flight Control Systems
(FBW/FCS). The plant integrates an Engineering Test System (ETS) with hardware components, such as Flight Control Computers (FCC), an hydraulic rig for testing flight control
actuators, and a simplified human pilot interface. The ETS is based on a network of PCs connected by optic fibres for high speed communications. Each PC runs a portion of the whole
model (e.g. flight simulator, hydraulic actuators, control laws, etc.). Thanks to parallel computing, very complex models of subsystems can run real-time with simulation steps of about 104 sec. The actuator under test is mounted on the rig while the others are simulated by the ETS. An hydraulic power unit supplies both the hydraulic jack and the primary actuator under
test. The supplied pressure can be modified by the ETS in order to simulate the effect of the engine rpm, according to the model of the hydraulic plant. Hydraulic as well as electrical
failures can be injected in order to verify the failure management logics and to measure failure transients [4].

The ETS architecture is the result of specific research activities dedicated to the study of possible technological solutions for parallel computation for real-time/hardware-in-the-loop
simulations. The ETS thus consists of a parallel computing system, based on a network of PCs (named Targets) that use shared RAM memory cards connected by optic fibres for high
speed communications. The simulation software running on the system is developed in the Matlab/Simulink environment, and the executable code is generated by means of the toolbox
xPC-Target. The Simulink model of the whole FCS can be executed on a single PC, not in real-time, during the development and the tuning phase of the model itself. Thanks to a specific
software, developed in order to improve the standard features of the toolbox xPC-Target, it is then possible to compile the model and to automatically distribute the executable codes on
the Targets for real-time computing. At the moment, the system includes five PCs (Pentium IV) dedicated to the simulation of different subsystems: one for the aircraft dynamics and the
sensors; one for the hydraulic plant and the hydraulic actuators of the high-lift surfaces and three PCs for the primary actuators. Two further PCs are dedicated to the interface with
hardware devices that can be integrated in the simulation loop, i.e.: flight control computers, hydraulic actuators, pilot interface devices and hydraulic systems for the simulation of
aerodynamic and inertial loads on the control surfaces (for further details on the integration hardware-software, see The Aircraft System Laboratory). The main advantages of this system
architecture with respect to other possible solutions are its modularity and the low cost of its components, thus making the system easily upgradeable and expandable.

Navigation Systems

As far the navigation systems is concerned, the research has been addressed to the development and implementation of
integrated navigation systems using strapdown inertial platforms and GPS systems. The integration of the information
coming from sensors has been performed by means of different kinds of Kalman filter that recursively processes
measurements affected by errors, in order to optimize the output signals. These filters allow to estimate the errors made
by the inertial platform using mathematical models of error propagation and information coming from the GPS. Two kinds
of Kalman filter have been considered: feedforward and feedback architectures. The first one is characterized by error

corrections downstream of the integration of the navigation equations. In the second one, the Kalman filter corrections are
performed before of the navigation equations integration, in order to purge a greater number of errors (i.e. sensor bias)
with respect to the feedforward structure.
The feedforward architecture has been applied to an application concerning the reconstruction of the trajectory performed
by a car equipped with a sensor system consisted of an inertial platform and a GPS receiver. The feedback architecture
has been applied to an application regarding the navigation of projectiles in controlled gliding flight. In this type of
application, problems of instability of the Kalman filter have been studied, due to the update frequency of the GPS data, to
be considered low in application characterized by high speeds. These problems were solved by developing interpolation
algorithms of GPS data based on accelerometer measurements. This methodology allowed the navigation system could
see the GPS as measurement source in continuous sampling, that is at the same frequency of the step of integration of
the navigation equations.

Air Data Systems

The research activities in this field concern two main topics:

A. Modelling of static and dynamic behaviour of Air Data Sensors, in order to allow the simulation of their signals,
in the context of a "Real-Time / Full Aircraft Simulation";
B. Development of models and algorithms for the elaboration of air data signals, in order to determine flight data.
As far as point A is concerned, the simulation of the signals generated by the air data sensors is carried out in order to
test and to validate the elaboration algorithms (point B) in the early phase of their development, before starting flight test
campaign. The simulation, that includes the different types of possible sensors failures, is based on models of the
behaviour of the sensors and their integration with the flow-field around the aircraft. The latter depends on angle of attach
and sideslip, Mach number and aircraft configuration and it is determined by means of wind tunnel tests as well as CFD
codes.
Concerning point B, the elaboration of air data signals allows the evaluation of altitude, air speed, angle of attack and
sideslip on the basis of the knowledge of local flow angles, local static pressures and local total pressures measured by
the sensors [3, 15]. Other important functions of the elaboration algorithms are the management of redundancies and the
detection of failures [5, 6]. Fundamental requirements of such algorithms, in addition to accuracy, are the limitation of the
FCC memory required to run the code implementing the algorithms and the limitation of the FCC memory needed for
storing calibration parameters. Furthermore, it is mandatory to design them in order to simplify as much as possible the
tuning of calibration parameters on the basis of flight test results. This research is carried out in collaboration with the
Finmeccanica group societies AleniaSIA and AleniaAermacchi, within the framework of the program for the development
of the Flight Control System of the new jet trainer Aermacchi M346. The DIA staff produced the software design official
documents (according to SAE ARP 4754 System Development Processes and RTCA DO-178B Software Consideration
in Airborne Systems & Equipment Certification.) used by AleniaAermacchi for the coding of the embedded software.
Furthermore, a Simulink code was developed at DIA and used to produce the test vectors required for the assessment of
the correct coding of the embedded software itself.

Aircraft systems modelling and simulation

Apart from the detailed studies on specific onboard equipments (i.e. actuators, sensors, etc.), modelling and simulation
activities are also dedicated to whole onboard systems.
Many efforts have been (and are) dedicated to the development of the following models

a complete Fly-by-Wire Flight Control Systems (FBW/FCS) with electro-hydraulic actuators;

a complete Flight Control Actuation Systems with electro-mechanical actuators [19, 22];

a complete Landing Gear Systems with electro-mechanical actuators [21];

a All-Electric Environment Control System.

The FBW/FCS model has been used for the investigation of subsystem integration problems and system design issues,
as well as for real-time/hardware-in-the-loop simulation (see the Real-time/hardware-in-the-loop simulations section),
while the other system models are used for the characterisation and the study of the electrical power absorption of AllElectric aircrafts.