Gain scheduled output-feedback control of aircraft using switched polytopic system approach

As the flight envelope becomes wider, modern aircraft are suffering from ever severer parameter variations over the operating envelope. To cope with the stability and output-feedback stabilization problem, a novel modeling technique was introduced first, which was based on the switched polytopic system approach. Employing switching polytopic Lyapunov functions and the average dwell time method, the criterion was deduced for asymptotical stability of the aircraft dynamics across the envelope. The control synthesis method was also provided, by which one obtained a static output-feedback stabilizing controller with varying gains. The proposed method was applied to the full-envelope control law synthesis of the highly maneuverable vehicle. Simulation results show that the design method features low design conservation in that it alleviates the average-dwell-time constraint on the aircraft flight conditions. The signal jumping in traditional switching controllers can be avoided and the satisfactory transient response can be achieved by the resultant gain-scheduled controller.