A novel adaptive coordinated tracking control scheme for a morphing aircraft with telescopic wings

Abstract

Inspired by flight biology, morphing flight technology has great potential to improve the adaptability and maneuverability of aircraft. This paper is devoted to the flight control problem of morphing aircraft, and aimed at safe and fuel-saving flight through morphing actively. Specifically, the longitudinal dynamics of a morphing aircraft with telescopic wings is modelled as a strict-feedback nonlinear system. Through fitting the expression of aerodynamic parameters by the morphing ratio, the model uncertainties induced by morphing errors are embedded in the dynamics. To meet the safety and fuel-saving requirements, an Adaptive Coordinated Tracking Control Scheme (ACTCS) is then proposed, which consists of a morphing control module and a tracking control module. For the morphing control module, an on-line morphing decision model is given in an optimization process with respect to the morphing ratio, and a second-order tracking filter is introduced to smooth the decision output and ensure the physical realizability. For the tracking control module, the novel adaptive controllers for the velocity and altitude subsystems are proposed based on the dynamic surface control method, in which adaptive mechanisms are designed to compensate for the model uncertainties. Finally, the proposed ACTCS is simulated in nine different cases of the test flight mission, to verify its effectiveness, robustness and fuel-saving effect.