Passivity-based control for flight control systems

Presents a passivity-based control (PBC) for flight control systems considering both stabilization and tracking. The aircraft dynamics are divided into fast (short period) and slow (phugoid) motions. Control laws for each motion are designed using the PBC technique. Using the Euler-Lagrange equations of motion, the dynamics are obtained from the aircraft energy equations. Our proposed method is an extension of the total energy control systems which was introduced by Lambregts (1983). Our method is illustrated on a longitudinal control problem of a twin-engined aircraft. The flight trajectory and simulation results are provided.