Gain-scheduled H2 tracking control of flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicles with an LPV model

This paper is focused on developing a gain-scheduled linear parameter varying (LPV) tracking controller for a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle model. Using a method of gain-scheduled H2 controller synthesis for continuous-time LPV systems based on parameter-dependent Lyapunov function (PDLF) approach, a combination of LPV control and tracking control of hypersonic vehicle is adopted for the design of a gain-scheduled dynamic output feedback controller that provides stable tracking of the velocity and altitude reference trajectories. The closed-loop control system reaches the desired controlled output in the sense of the H2 performance with respect to the disturbance input. The proposed methodology addresses the issues of stability robustness and tracking control problem with respect to both parametric model uncertainty, which naturally arises when adopting reduced-complexity models for flight control design, and dynamic perturbations due to the flexible dynamics of air-breathing hypersonic vehicle. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.