Minimal-order observer based H∞ control for a flight control problem

A recently introduced method for designing H_∞ compensators based on minimal-order observers is considered for an aircraft control problem. The purpose of this paper is to bridge the gap between theory and application by presenting a practical utilization of a new design approach. Manual flight control systems for the lateral axis of a fighter aircraft are developed using both full-order and reduced-order compensators and the results are compared. It is demonstrated that this method can be used to directly design reduced-order compensators which result in a system satisfying a closed-loop H_∞ bound