Control design for a hypersonic aircraft using a switched linear parameter-varying system approach

This paper is concerned with the control problem of an air-breathing hypersonic aircraft using a switched linear-parameter-varying systems approach. The rigid non-linear longitudinal model of a generic hypersonic aircraft is adopted with the aim of verifying the design methodology of the developed controller and switching logic. By linearizing the non-linear model of the hypersonic aircraft at trim points and dividing the velocity range into several parts, a switched linear parameter-varying model for the underlying system is derived. With the aid of multiple Lyapunov-like functions technique, controllers that ensure the tracking of given commands of the closed-loop system are designed under mode-independent and mode-dependent switching logic, respectively. Simulation results for the generic hypersonic aircraft show the effectiveness of the proposed method and the advantages of the mode-dependent switching logic.