Fault-Tolerant Control for Carrier-Based Aircraft Automatic Landing Subject to Multiple Disturbances and Actuator Faults

This paper introduces a fault-tolerant control scheme for the automatic carrier landing of carrier-based aircraft using direct lift control. The scheme combines radial basis function neural network and active disturbance rejection control (RBF-ADRC) to overcome the impact of actuator failures and external disturbances. First, the carrier-based aircraft model, the carrier air-wake model, and the actuator fault model were established. Secondly, ADRC is designed to estimate and compensate for actuator faults and disturbances in real time. RBFNN adjusts the ADRC controller parameters based on the system state. Then, the Lyapunov function is constructed to prove the stability of the closed-loop system. The controller is applied to the direct lift control channel, auxiliary attitude channel, and approach power compensation system. The direct lift control improves the performance of fixed-wing aircraft. Finally, comparative simulations were conducted under various actuator failures. The results demonstrate the remarkable fault tolerance of the RBF-ADRC scheme, enabling precise tracking of the desired glide path by the shipboard aircraft even in the presence of actuator failures.