Adaptive control of a nonlinear prototypical wing section with reduced order observer (Q1961286)

The paper treats the question of control of an aeroelastic system with unknown parameters using output feedback. The equations of motion of the chosen aeroelastic system describe the plunge and pitch motion of a wing. A single trailing edge flap is used for the purpose of control, and plunge displacement and pitch angle are measured for feedback. For the derivation of the controller, a canonical representation of the aeroelastic model is used. Reduced order filters are designed to obtain the estimate of the state variables. In the closed-loop system, asymptotic regulation of the state vector to the origin is accomplished. Simulation results are presented which show that regulation and trajectory following are accomplished in the closed-loop system in spite of large uncertainties in the structural and aerodynamic parameters of the model.