Robust Controller Design to Uncertain Nonlinear Tailless Aircraft

Abstract The vertical tail of an aircraft produces a large radar signature and the requirement for stealth in new military aircraft necessitates the design of tailless aircraft. Without the vertical tail results in lateral-directional response characteristics which are a great deal different from those of conventional aircraft. In this paper, a robust controller designed for the tailless aircraft is presented. The controller's basic structure consists of an inner-loop DI controller wrapped around an outer-loop robust µ-synthesis controller. The inner-loop controller equalizes the tailless aircraft dynamics across the flight envelope, and the outer-loop controller addresses the issues of stability, performance, and robustness to tailless aircraft uncertainties.