A nonlinear control approach for a hypersonic vehicle

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to design a robust control system for a generic hypersonic vehicle which includes dynamic nonlinear, open loop unstable and parametric uncertainties. Design/methodology/approach For a complex longitudinal model of a generic hypersonic vehicle which includes dynamic nonlinear, open loop unstable and parametric uncertainties, a nonlinear dynamic inverse (NDI) approach combined with proportional differential (PD) control is used to design a strong robust control system to deal with the sensitivity to changes of atmosphere condition. In this way, a simple genetic algorithm is used to search a group of parameters of the control system to satisfy the specific performance indices. Then parametric uncertainties are considered to verify the robustness of the control system. Findings The PD hypersonic vehicle control system using NDI approach can satisfy the specific flight performance. And it has strong robustness under the parametric uncertainties. Originality/value The paper fulfills a complete process of the nonlinear control system design for a generic hypersonic vehicle. And, the simulation results show the efficiency and robustness of the control system.