Nested Robust Controller Design for Interconnected Linear Parameter Varying Aerial Vehicles

A framework for a systematic design of robust controllers to guarantee desired output performance for an interconnected group of multi-input-multi-output dynamic systems is presented. The framework enables design of a robust linear parameter varying (LPV) controller for all individual vehicles as well as the interconnected group to account for uncertainties associated with the individual vehicles as well as the interconnections. In this paper, the robust controller design methodology for the individual systems and the cooperative system is implemented in a nested manner to enhance the performance. The application of the nested robust controller is distributed wherein well-known robust performance analysis is adopted and modified, and the controller synthesis methodology is developed on top of the same performance condition. Nested robust LPV controllers are synthesized for the short-period dynamics of F-16 VISTA over a flight envelope defined by Mach number and altitude of the aircraft. Then a group of homogeneous F-16 VISTA with individually designed LPV controllers is interconnected using a connection topology that suffers time delays, and a cooperative controller is designed using two methods described in this work. Numerical simulation results presented in the paper show that the group performance is enhanced with the robust LPV controller design methodology.