Afef Fekih, Ph.D.
Research Projects
§ PI, “Smart Fault Tolerant Control Strategy for Safer
Aircraft Systems”,
The
ultimate goal of this project is to design a smart and robust fault tolerant
controller (FTC) for aircraft systems. In the proposed architecture, passive
and active approaches will be merged together for the best achievable
performance. The proposed FTC approach:1) utilizes
robust control as the first line of defense to failures/parameter variations,
2) triggers a reconfigurable controller in case of severe impairments.
Depending on the magnitude of the failure signature and the impairment
severity, one controller will be switched over. The proposed control strategy
can be implemented in Intelligent flight control
system in order to improve the operating characteristics of aircraft, reduce
false alarms and false reconfigurations and increase safety and reliability.
§ Co-PI, “Aircraft Safety:
Control Upset Management”, NASA-EPSCor-BoR
(project originally awarded to Dr. Chowdhury
(Professor, EECE)) (PI: J.L. Aravena, LSU-Baton
Rouge, Co-PIs. K.Zhou, LSU-Baton Rouge, X.R.Li,
The project draws expertise from Louisiana State
University, University of New Orleans and University
of Louisiana at Lafayette and proposes to develop a collaborative effort
with NASA researchers to create technologies that
significantly advance the goals of the Aviation Safety Program (AvSP).
This
project supports the goals of NASA's Single Aircraft Accident Prevention (SAAP) program by addressing the two most important
causes for single airplane failure, namely loss of control and controlled
flight into terrain which, according to FAA statistics, account for more than
50% of fatal accidents worldwide.