This research is concerned with developing methodologies for solving practical issues of reconfigurable control systems. The original motivation comes from the need for analytical redundant management of control elements (e.g.actuators) in the event of hardware failures in high reliability systems. One such example is modern combat aircraft subjected to actuator/surface impairments. A major task is to achieve reconfigurable control designs balancing impairment detectability and sufficient robustness. This involves careful selection of types and parameters of the controllers and the impairment detecting filters used. Algorithms are proposed to make such selection systematic. A further investigation is focused on enhancing the speed and accuracy of the failure detection and isolation FDI unit. It is suggested that a more deterministic approach be taken to better utilize all available information. A rule based strategy for FDI is described. Developments made through the proposed research are expected to result in significant improvement in terms of the overall system's reliability and maintainability.
