Reinforcement Learning Derived High-Alpha Aerobatic Manoeuvres for Fixed Wing Operation in Confined Spaces

Reinforcement learning has been used on a variety of control tasks for drones, including, in previous work at the University of Bristol, on perching manoeuvres with sweep-wing aircraft. In this paper, a new aircraft model is presented representing flight up to very high angles of attack where the aerodynamic models are highly nonlinear. The model is employed to develop high-alpha manoeuvres, using reinforcement learning to exploit the nonlinearities at the edge of the flight envelope, enabling fixed-wing operations in tightly confined spaces. Training networks for multiple manoeuvres is also demonstrated. The approach is shown to generate controllers that take full advantage of the aircraft capability. It is suggested that a combination of these neural network-based controllers, together with classical model predictive control, could be used to operate efficiently within the low alpha flight regime and, yet, respond rapidly in confined spaces where high alpha, agile manoeuvres are required.