Flight path tracking based-on direct adaptive sliding mode control

Adaptive control algorithms are of interest in the flight control systems design not only for their capability to improve performance and reliability but also for handling aerodynamic parameter uncertainties, external disturbances and modeling inaccuracies. This paper addresses a nonlinear direct adaptive sliding mode controller to perform a flight path tracking for a transportation aircraft. The synthesis of the adaptation laws is based on the positivity and Lyapunov design principle. Simulation results for different flight conditions for transportation aircraft are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.