Application of Type One Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding Mode Control System for the Longitudinal Motion of the Cessna Citation X

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach developed at the Laboratory of Applied Research in Active Controls, Avionics and AeroServoElasticity (LARCASE) to control the longitudinal motion of the Cessna Citation X aircraft during cruise using a Type One Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding Mode control system. To achieve this, the nonlinear model of the aircraft was generated using the simulation platform developed at LARCASE, which was validated with flight data obtained from a Level D Research Aircraft Flight Simulator (RAFS) manufactured by CAE Inc. The term Level-D refers to the highest certification level of an aircraft's flight dynamics that can be issued by the Federal Administration of Aviation (FAA, AC 120-40B). A Type One Fuzzy Logic system was used to approximate the uncertainties and nonlinearities that may hinder the aircraft's performance, while the sliding mode control technique was chosen to ensure that the pitch rate can track the desired reference value. To take into account the variations in the aircraft's parameters and dynamics in different flight conditions, an adaptive control approach was adopted for the proposed controller to update the parameters to their optimal values over time. Based on the simulation results, the proposed controller robustly maintained the pitch rate of the aircraft at the reference value in the presence of variation in aircraft dynamics, while providing smooth elevator deflection to prevent any mechanical damage to the actuators in various flight conditions.