Intelligent System Controls and Operation (ISCO)

The overall technical approach of the Intelligent System Controls and Operations (ISCO) Project consists of developing the capability for identifying problems and failures before they occur, reconfiguring an aircraft¹s control system so that it automatically compensates for problems or failures when they occur, and developing these capabilities in a generic sense so that they can be applied to different classes of aircraft. This applies to both the primary flight control system and the engine or aeropropulsion control system. The ISCO Project also addresses the benefits of developing "middleware" to allow the aerospace community access to the wealth of information that currently exists in various forms through government and industry and that might be of value in monitoring trends in safety and maintenance. All of these areas are designed to improve the safety and security of operations within the National Airspace System.

The specific activities conducted within ISCO are:

• Intelligent Flight Control (IFC)
  
  
• Intelligent Health and Safety Monitoring (IHASM)
  
  
• Propulsion Control and Health Monitoring (PCHM)
  
  
• Data Sharing (DS)

Intelligent Flight Control (IFC)

The objective of the IFC task is to develop next-generation neural flight controllers using enhanced neural network adaptive control algorithms and interface technologies. These controllers will be developed to exhibit higher levels of adaptivity and autonomy, than current state-of-the-art systems. Such next-generation neural flight controllers will be capable of automatically compensating for broad spectrum of damage or failures, controlling remote or autonomous vehicles, and reducing costs associated with flight control law development.

The Intelligent Flight Control research effort is developing neural network technologies that can automatically compensate for damaged or malfunctioning aircraft. A variety of different aircraft will be examined to ensure applicability to many vehicle classes including commercial transports, high-performance military aircraft, hypersonic vehicles, remotely-piloted or unmanned concepts, reusable launch vehicles, and autonomous planetary aircraft. An intelligent neural flight and propulsion control system (INFPCS) will be developed and examined in a high-fidelity flight simulation environment.

The study of vibration signatures of helicopter transmissions using both operational helicopters and test stand transmissions. The overall goal is to develop information technology and advanced computational methods for diagnosing or predicting system component health in real-time. Anticipated benefits are to improve operational safety, lower field maintenance costs, and prolong effective aerospace mission operations.

Under severe accident conditions (e.g. loss of a control surface), existing flight control software may not be able to allow a pilot to safely continue flying a damaged aircraft. Pilots must adjust to both changed aircraft performance and use whatever control capability remains or is permitted by the existing software. This diverts precious time for piloting that may lead to increased accident severity or loss of life. Recently developed techniques have emerged to add an increased level of flexibility and adaptability to flight control systems. These techniques, originally developed in two different programs titled Propulsion Control Augmentation (PCA) and Intelligent Flight Controls (IFC - FY94 to FY99), will be merged under this effort.

Neural networks offer the prospect of producing rapidly reconfigurable systems that respond automatically to changes in the environment. This technology will then be further complemented by having an integrated PCA capability, which offers increased control authority and redundancy in the absence or loss of any or all control surfaces.

Intelligent Health and Safety Monitoring (IHASM)

The operational integrity of flight-critical systems is of paramount importance for ensuring flight safety. With the advent of intelligent onboard computers, information technology can be expected to play an important role in aiding the aircrew and ground maintenance personnel to identify and correct potential component failures in a timely and cost effective manner.

NASA Glenn Research Center is pursuing development of both near term and long term technologies for extending the life of engine components through smart control. It is anticipated that industry application of these technologies will result in Life Cycle Cost savings of $5-10M for a fleet of 400 engines for short haul aircraft. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/cdtb/projects/ilec/index.html

The primary focus of this research is to develop information processing software, of a generic nature, that may be used in next generation aerospace vehicles to detect, isolate, or rectify imminent or foreseeable component malfunctions. This technology will improve aircrew caution/warning advisories, provide input to adaptive flight/propulsion control systems, or trigger on-condition ground maintenance. In general, such embedded software is proving to be an essential ingredient for effective vehicle health management systems.

Propulsion Control and Health Monitoring (PCHM)

The Propulsion Control and Health Monitoring (PCHM) task is developing and validating advanced instrumentation, health monitoring and control system technologies that are critical to enhancing the safety, reliability and operability of aircraft propulsion systems. This activity includes research in advanced health monitoring technologies using sensors located in harsh environments to provide direct measurements of the quantities of interest. When integrated with photonics-based control architecture and intelligent control algorithms, this will allow the aircraft engines to operate safely in the presence of engine subcomponent failures.

These technologies will also provide enhanced fault diagnostics capabilities that will allow quick detection and isolation of faulty engine components thus avoiding costly delays in airplane departures. PCHM will also enable engine component maintenance to be performed on a need basis rather than on a preset schedule basis. This approach will help drastically reduce the aircraft engine maintenance cost and will also reduce the risk of component failures in between scheduled maintenance periods.

The Remote Tower Sensor System (RTSS) is an enabling technology for virtual towers. The initial RTSS is currently installed at SFO, SEATAC, and SQL. The objective of the system is to provide state-of-the-art sensing capabilities at airports to support safety and capacity goals. The remote sensors include digital video, IR, weather, and other surface sensing instruments under development. Currently, the SFO deployment has significantly enhanced the aviation community's ability to monitor and predict visibility characteristics for the airport operations by allowing remote users to have real-time digital video feeds of the airport surface and surrounding weather environment. The system is being used by the FAA, the airport and the airlines.

Data Sharing

The objective of the ISCO Data Sharing task is to develop the technology to support a system-wide monitoring capability for the National Airspace System. Conceptually, monitoring is the process of continuously measuring operational performance against expected performance and established operational procedures in order to identify deviations or trends that may be indicative of current or future unsatisfactory performance. Operationally, the objective for system-wide monitoring is to provide the decision-makers of the air carriers, air traffic management, manufacturers and other air services providers with regular, accurate, and insightful measures of the health, performance, and safety of the National Aviation System (NAS). System-wide capabilities will also provide technology and procedure developers with reliable predictions of the system-wide effects of the changes they are introducing into the aviation system. This capability will enable definition of operational and safety trends and also identification of developing conditions that could compromise the safety of the NAS. Implementation of this capability will allow an industry-wide, and eventually worldwide, proactive approach to the identification and alleviation of life-threatening aviation conditions and events. The Data Sharing task will prototype the key infrastructure components that will address the physical network, data format/context, and application interface requirements.