Nonlinear Adaptive Equivalent Control Based on Interconnection Subsystems for Air-Breathing Hypersonic Vehicles

For the nonminimum phase behavior of the air-breathing hypersonic vehicle model caused by elevator-to-lift coupling, a nonlinear adaptive equivalent control method based on interconnection subsystems is proposed. In the altitude loop, the backstepping strategy is applied, where the virtual control inputs about flight-path angle and attack angle are designed step by step. In order to avoid the inaccurately direct cancelation of elevator-to-lift coupling when aerodynamic parameters are uncertain, the real control inputs, that is, elevator deflection and canard deflection, are linearly converted into the equivalent control inputs which are designed independently. The reformulation of the altitude-flight-path angle dynamics and the attack angle-pitch rate dynamics is constructed into interconnection subsystems with input-to-state stability via small-gain theorem. For the velocity loop, the dynamic inversion controller is designed. The adaptive approach is used to identify the uncertain aerodynamic parameters. Simulation of the flexible hypersonic vehicle demonstrates effectiveness of the proposed method.