Sensor and actuator fault detection in small autonomous helicopters

The use of autonomous helicopters in civilian applications requires the improvement of safety conditions to avoid potential accidents. Fault detection and isolation (FDI) plays an important role in this context. This paper presents an actuator and sensor FDI system for small autonomous helicopters. Fault detection is accomplished by evaluating any significant change in the behaviour of the vehicle with respect to the fault-free behaviour, which is estimated by using observers. Several types of faults have been considered. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by means of experimental results and simulations.