Robust Adaptive Neural Control of Morphing Aircraft with Prescribed Performance

Abstract

This study proposes a low‐computational composite adaptive neural control scheme for the longitudinal dynamics of a swept‐back wing aircraft subject to parameter uncertainties. To efficiently release the constraint often existing in conventional neural designs, whose closed‐loop stability analysis always necessitates that neural networks (NNs) be confined in the active regions, a smooth switching function is presented to conquer this issue. By integrating minimal learning parameter (MLP) technique, prescribed performance control, and a kind of smooth switching strategy into back‐stepping design, a new composite switching adaptive neural prescribed performance control scheme is proposed and a new type of adaptive laws is constructed for the altitude subsystem. Compared with previous neural control scheme for flight vehicle, the remarkable feature is that the proposed controller not only achieves the prescribed performance including transient and steady property but also addresses the constraint on NN. Two comparative simulations are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controller.