VTOL Aircraft Angular Rate Control Based on Adaptive Filtering

This paper proposes an adaptive filtering-based INDI control method for angular rate control of VTOL aircraft. To address the problem that angular acceleration signals cannot be accurately obtained in VTOL vehicle control, a Least Mean Square (LMS) error-based adaptive filtering algorithm is used to predict the angular rate, thus avoiding the requirements of general estimation and filtering methods on aircraft ontology model information and a priori knowledge. Therefore, in this paper, we firstly establish a model of the hovering phase of a VTOL vehicle that contains unconventional generalized maneuvering surfaces such as vector engines, lift fans, and roll nozzles. Then, the Adaptive Filtering-Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inverse (AF-INDI) control law is proposed and validated by simulation. The simulation shows the AF-INDI control method can predict angular rate signal well, significantly reduce the signal noise interference, and realize the angular rate control of the VTOL aircraft.