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Main Authors: Özkurt, Süleyman, Grimm, Adrian, Fichter, Walter
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15489
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author Özkurt, Süleyman
Grimm, Adrian
Fichter, Walter
author_facet Özkurt, Süleyman
Grimm, Adrian
Fichter, Walter
contents This paper presents a novel quadratic programming (QP) approach for constrained control allocation that directly incorporates continuous-time actuator rate constraints without requiring slack variables. Over-actuated aircraft configurations, particularly prevalent in eVTOL and military applications, require control allocation algorithms to distribute commanded control moments among available actuators while respecting position and rate constraints. Existing methods such as direct allocation, pseudo-inverse, cascaded generalized inverse, and exact redistributed pseudo-inverse either cannot handle rate constraints in continuous time or require discretization approaches that compromise performance. Current QP methods that incorporate rate constraints rely on slack variables to ensure feasibility, which prevents full utilization of the attainable moment set and degrades allocation performance. The proposed methodology addresses this limitation by calculating the attainable moment set from both position and rate constraints through convex hull operations, then ensuring feasibility by scaling unattainable commanded moments to the boundary of the attainable moment set while preserving their direction. This approach guarantees the feasibility of the optimization problem without slack variables. The method is validated through simulation on an F-18 fighter aircraft control allocation problem, demonstrating equivalent performance to the established exact redistributed pseudo-inverse method while providing smoother actuator behavior and enhanced constraint satisfaction. Results show that incorporating continuous-time rate constraints leads to improved actuator tracking, reduced overshoot, and more precise adherence to position limits, which is essential for aircraft safety, ride comfort, and actuator longevity.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_15489
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Constrained Control Allocation With Continuous-Time Rate Constraints: Three-Dimensional Case
Özkurt, Süleyman
Grimm, Adrian
Fichter, Walter
Optimization and Control
Systems and Control
This paper presents a novel quadratic programming (QP) approach for constrained control allocation that directly incorporates continuous-time actuator rate constraints without requiring slack variables. Over-actuated aircraft configurations, particularly prevalent in eVTOL and military applications, require control allocation algorithms to distribute commanded control moments among available actuators while respecting position and rate constraints. Existing methods such as direct allocation, pseudo-inverse, cascaded generalized inverse, and exact redistributed pseudo-inverse either cannot handle rate constraints in continuous time or require discretization approaches that compromise performance. Current QP methods that incorporate rate constraints rely on slack variables to ensure feasibility, which prevents full utilization of the attainable moment set and degrades allocation performance. The proposed methodology addresses this limitation by calculating the attainable moment set from both position and rate constraints through convex hull operations, then ensuring feasibility by scaling unattainable commanded moments to the boundary of the attainable moment set while preserving their direction. This approach guarantees the feasibility of the optimization problem without slack variables. The method is validated through simulation on an F-18 fighter aircraft control allocation problem, demonstrating equivalent performance to the established exact redistributed pseudo-inverse method while providing smoother actuator behavior and enhanced constraint satisfaction. Results show that incorporating continuous-time rate constraints leads to improved actuator tracking, reduced overshoot, and more precise adherence to position limits, which is essential for aircraft safety, ride comfort, and actuator longevity.
title Constrained Control Allocation With Continuous-Time Rate Constraints: Three-Dimensional Case
topic Optimization and Control
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15489