A structured H∞H∞-based optimization approach for integrated plant and self-scheduled flight control system design

This paper presents a new procedure for the integrated plant and flight control system design in the presence of parametric uncertainties. The proposed approach is based on a design procedure consisting in casting gain-scheduling and robustness requirements into the framework of structured H∞H∞ design. As both controller architecture and gain-scheduling structure are defined a priori, the scheduled gains can be tuned by the newly available MATLAB-based tool systune to minimize H∞H∞ constraints related to performance requirements over both operating and uncertain domains. It is shown that this technique allows for optimization and adjustment of plant's physical parameters while satisfying closed-loop performance requirements. The proposed procedure is applied to the F-16 Fighting Falcon flight control system design under mass and center of gravity uncertainties by adjusting the location of an additional accelerometer to optimize the closed-loop performance while minimizing the horizontal tail area. Numerical studies are carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.