Practical fault-tolerant control allocation based on attainable control set analysis for a coaxial dodecacopter

Abstract

This paper presents a fault-tolerant control (FTC) strategy for an over-actuated system, specifically focusing on a coaxial dodecacopter experiencing actuator faults. This topic has not been extensively investigated in this field due to its complexity. Initially, the static controllability of the system under various fault conditions is analyzed using the attainable control set. Building on these findings, an FTC allocation strategy is developed to address each fault case effectively. The proposed FTC method employs quadratic programming to satisfy actuator control input constraints and integrates a pseudo-inverse technique to reduce the average computation time. The effectiveness of the proposed control allocation is demonstrated through numerical simulations, comparing it with previous FTC methods. Subsequently, experiments conducted on a coaxial dodecacopter mounted on a test jig validate the efficacy and practicality of the proposed FTC algorithm in addressing a single motor failure within a real-world environment. The video of the experimental validation can be found at https://youtu.be/ayYy44Vw-S8.