Block Backstepping for Nonlinear Flight Control Law Design

Abstract

In this chapter we describe the block backstepping approach to flight control law design. Block backstepping is a Lyapunov based technique for controller design which is particularly well suited to the rigid body control problem where the main means of control is through the moments, which is the case in most aircraft. The resulting controller has semi-global (in the state space) stabilising properties and has a moderate number of parameters that can be used for tuning. We illustrate the theory by simulations of the ADMIRE model with a block backstepping controller in demanding manoeuvres such as high-alpha flight and high-rate velocity vector rolls.