This article compares two feedback compensator strategies for the task of guiding a morphing aircraft along a perching trajectory. The aircraft model includes novel, actuated degrees of freedom that allow for bulk movement of some airframe structures. This morphing ability allows the aircraft to perform maneuvers in a manner similar to some birds. The control methods compared in this article are a multi-stage compensator and a linear quadratic regulator. Simulations test the effectiveness of the compensators for initial state error and a trajectory disturbance. In these simulations the linear quadratic regulator outperforms the multi-stage compensator by repeatedly producing smaller state errors and by having lower error standard deviations.

Date Published: 2 May 2011
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 7977, Active and Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems 2011, 79771L (2 May 2011); doi: 10.1117/12.880610

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7977:
Active and Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems 2011
Mehrdad N. Ghasemi-Nejhad, Editor(s)