Adaptive control of hypersonic vehicles using guardian maps theory

Compared with traditional vehicles, the dynamic model of hypersonic vehicles features higher nonlinearity, tighter coupling and stronger uncertainty. What's more, the designed controller needs to have more stringent performance demands as well as robustness requirements. According to the guardian maps theory, a proposed design method can adaptively adjust control parameters in relation to the given control structure for hypersonic vehicles. First, a linear parameter varying (LPV) model of a hypersonic vehicle is established, and after that handling qualities are translated in terms of eigenvalue confinement. Then for a fixed controller architecture and initial controller gains, a set of control parameters is adjusted automatically using this theory while ensuring generalized stability in the expected flight process. Finally, an example of a hypersonic vehicle is provided in simulation to verify the feasibility of the proposed control method.