A switching scheme for full-envelope control of a V/STOL aircraft using LQ bumpless transfer

This paper describes the design of a switching scheme for integrated flight and propulsion control of a VSTOL aircraft throughout the hover and transition regions of its flight envelope. The approach adopted makes use of a recently introduced bumpless transfer technique and introduces a methodology for switching between multiple controllers while limiting on-line computational overheads. The success of the switching scheme in maintaining desirable flying qualities as the aircraft accelerates from hover to wingborne flight is demonstrated in non-linear simulation. Simulation results for the switched system clearly show the effectiveness of the bumpless transfer scheme in preserving closed-loop performance during switching.