Patent ID: 9008939
Filing Date: 2015-04-14
Classification: B60K,G05B

Abstract:
1. A vehicle control system for a vehicle, comprising: control elements configured to alter at least one of a speed, altitude or course of a vehicle; an input actuator configured to be actuated by an operator to input control demand; a control allocator configured to allocate a received control demand by providing actuator control signals derived from said control demand to a plurality of actuators for the control elements; a feedback module comprising a behaviour estimation unit configured to form and to feedback via a feedback loop a feedback signal representative of a difference between a desired vehicle behaviour represented by a control demand signal vector and an estimated vehicle behaviour that would result from said actuator signals at current travel conditions, wherein the control demand signal vector is an output from control laws of the control system, such that the behaviour estimation unit estimates behaviour of the vehicle control system based on a commanded actuator input, the feedback signal being arranged to modify said control demand signal vector forming a modified control demand signal vector such that the modified control demand signal vector, in the case the control demand signal vector represents a control demand greater than performance limits of the vehicle under current conditions, will come to represent a control demand within said performance limits when the feedback signal takes effect; and a control efficiency unit configured to keep and update information regarding the efficiency of the actuators of the vehicle, wherein the behaviour estimation unit is configured to use information from said control efficiency unit to calculate the estimated vehicle behaviour.