Robust Control Law Development for a Hypersonic Cruise Aircraft

Systems Control Technology, Inc. is participating in the Air Force program entitled "Robust Control Law Development for Modern Aerospace Vehicles" (MAVRIC) as a subcontractor to Northrop Aircraft Division. The goal of this program is to apply state-of-the-art robust control law design methodologies to high-performance aircraft with significant modelling errors (uncertainties). The uncertainties which are being considered include structured, unstructured, and those due to linearization, gain scheduling, and model reduction. A model-following design technique developed under a previous Air Force study has been cast into an H∞ synthesis framework. The design approach has the potential for direct design of control laws which feature both robust stability and performance. Two vehicles are being considered in the MAVRIC program: a fighter aircraft with enhanced maneuverability and a hypervelocity flight vehicle. Control law development for the hypersonic vehicle will be discussed in this paper.