The design and optimisation of control systems play a key role in improving the environmental friendliness, economy and safety of future generations of aircraft. Automatic flight control systems enable active stabilisation and reduction of the structural load on the entire aircraft and make it possible to design aerodynamically more efficient aircraft configurations with considerably lighter structures. Modern fault-tolerant and adaptive control methods also guarantee the full functionality of the control system even in the event of serious faults, thereby increasing safety.
The SR Institute develops innovative flight control systems for this purpose and supports the development process with a comprehensive range of computer-aided design and analysis tools.
In flight tests with DLR research aircraft, for example, more efficient controllers are tested and airport approaches with reduced emissions are developed. The institute is developing new planning and trajectory optimisation methods for the automated execution of complete flight missions, for example for high-altitude solar platforms.
