Title: A comparative study of redundant and non-redundant flight control system architectures for unmanned aircraft: key limitations and recommendations

Authors: Robert Moore; Ramy A. Rahimi; John Robbins; Richard Stansbury

Addresses: College of Engineering, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL 32114, USA ' College of Business, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL 32114, USA ' College of Business, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL 32114, USA ' College of Engineering, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL 32114, USA

Abstract: This paper provides a comparative study of redundant and non-redundant flight control system architectures for unmanned aircraft (UA). The study implied the existence of shortcomings within current unmanned systems due to the lack, or severe limitation, of resilient redundant systems incorporated which prevent safe operations beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) and introduces a major public safety risk. The research highlights the key limitations of current systems by surveying, analysing, and comparing the current flight control systems architectures for UA. The study has found that most UA use simple architectures with no redundancy elements to improve their operational safety. Additionally, aircraft with redundancy elements have limited redundancy. Conclusively, the study serves as a preliminary stage to investigate the development of a new resilient systems architecture that guarantees safe integration into the National Airspace System (NAS).

Keywords: unmanned aircraft system; redundant flight control architecture; beyond visual-line-of-sight; flight-over-people; public safety.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2024.137837

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2024 Vol.95 No.1/2, pp.75 - 99

Received: 09 Mar 2023
Accepted: 05 Sep 2023
Published online: 05 Apr 2024 *

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