Abstract:

To cope with the control problem of a class of variable-span morphing aircraft, a continuous smooth switching linear parameter varying (LPV) controller is proposed. Choosing the rate of span variation as the time-varying parameter, the morphing aircraft is modeled as a LPV system. The smooth switching controller is designed in the way that the time-varying parameter is partitioned into several subregions with overlaps. Then, a sufficient condition to ensure the switched LPV system’s exponential stability is presented by employing the methods of multiple parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions and average dwell time. Because the character that the time-varying parameter changes gradually is considered, the switching law without constraint on average dwell time is obtained which makes the conclusion less conservative. The simulation result shows that using the proposed controller, the states of morphing aircraft are stable and switch smoothly when the span changes continuously.