Nonlinear control design for high-speed unmanned aerial vehicle with unstable zero dynamics

In this paper we consider nonlinear control of high-speed unmanned aerial vehicle with strong coupling effects. The coupling between aerodynamics, flexible structure and propulsion system will bring great challenges for longitudinal vehicle model control. In order to overcome the unstable zero dynamics of this model which caused by strong couplings, an auxiliary plant is constructed for the purpose of feedback control design. Then, a decoupling nonlinear controller is designed. The reference tracking for the velocity and altitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle can be achieved. Simulation results using the flexible vehicle model which include intricate couplings between the engine and flight dynamics are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.