2013 10th IEEE International Conference on Control and Automation (ICCA)

Hangzhou, China, June 12-14, 2013

Design of Flight Control System for a Hypersonic Gliding Vehicle

Based on Nonlinear Disturbance Observer *
Chengshan QIAN, Changyin SUN, Yiqing HUANG, Chaoxu MU, Jingmei ZHANG, Ruimin ZHANG
AbstractHypersonic Gliding Vehicle (HGV) is a new class
of hypersonic glider being developed. This paper designs a flight
control system for a Hypersonic Gliding Vehicle based on
nonlinear disturbance observers. Firstly, a nonlinear
disturbance observer (NDO) is used to estimate the unknown
disturbances; the influence of disturbances is estimated by the
NDO. Secondly, the NDO is integrated with a conventional
sliding mode controller to compensate the influence of
disturbances based on the estimate. Stability of the composite
closed-loop system is provided using Lyapunov theory. Finally,
simulation results present that the flight control system for the
HGV achieves excellent results.

challenging control problem in that its aerodynamic model is

largely uncertain[1-6].
This paper designs a flight control system for a HGV based
on nonlinear disturbance observers (NDO). Firstly, a NDO is
used to estimate the unknown disturbances. Secondly, the
NDO is integrated with a conventional sliding mode controller
to compensate the influence of disturbances based on the
estimate. Stability of the composite closed-loop system is
provided using Lyapunov theory. Finally, simulation results
present that the flight control system for the HGV achieves
excellent results.

I. INTRODUCTION

II. PROCEDURE FOR PAPER SUBMISSION

Hypersonic Gliding Vehicle (HGV) is a new class of

hypersonic glider being developed. It characterized by
sub-orbital velocities and cruising altitudes in the 20-80 km
altitude. A HGV is a maneuverable hypersonic reentry vehicle,
which can dispense a variety of payloads inside the
atmosphere. The HGV is to be launched into its suborbital
trajectory either by expendable boosters or reusable launch
vehicles. For example, the HGV can be launched by Small
Launch Vehicle (SLV) which is a low-cost quick-response
booster. It is a very unique vehicle. During the early part of the
flight, it acts like a spacecraft. In the middle phase, it re-enters
the atmosphere like the space shuttle, and in the latter stage, it
flies like an aircraft. One of the major control problems to be
encountered with such a vehicle is the scarcity of aerodynamic
data, and the likelihood of the model used for the guidance and
automatic pilot design to be largely uncertain. It poses a very

The symbols and terms in this paper were shown in

reference[7]. The equations of flight attitude angle
T
T
= [ , , ] and angle rate = [ p, q, r ] are considered in
this paper. It can be described by the following nonlinear
model:
(1)

 = f f + g f M C

(2)

where f s = f , f , f ,

* Resrach supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China

(No.91016004, 60974106), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
(No.20110491335), Jiangsu Province Postdoctoral Science Foundation
(No.1101075C).
Chengshan QIAN is with the Flight Control Research Center, School of
Automation, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China. He is with
School of Information and Control, Nanjing University of Information
Science
&
Technology,
Nanjing
210044,
China
(e-mail:
qianchengshan@163.com).
Changyin SUN is with the Flight Control Research Center, School of
Automation, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China (e-mail:
cysun@seu.edu.cn).
Yiqing HUANG is with the Flight Control Research Center, School of
Automation, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China (e-mail:
yiqhuang@163.com).
Chaoxu MU is with the Flight Control Research Center, School of
Automation, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China (e-mail:
mcx1984@sina.com).
Jingmei ZHANG is with the Flight Control Research Center, School of
Automation, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China (e-mail:
meizijingjing@163.com).
Ruimin ZHANG is with the Flight Control Research Center, School of
Automation, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China (e-mail:
zhangrim@163.com).

978-1-4673-4708-2/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE

 = f s + gs

1573

L , + Mg cos cos ) ( MV cos ) ,

f = ( qSC

Y , cos + Mg cos sin ) ( MV ) ,

f = ( qSC

f =

Y , tan cos cos

g cos cos tan qSC
+
+
V
MV

L , (tan sin + tan ) ( MV ) .

qSC

gs is a 3 3 matrix, its equation is

gs

tan cos
sin
=
sec cos

1 tan sin
0
cos
0 sec sin

p
p
p
f f = f p , f q , f r , where f p = I qr qr + Ip p + gl laero ,
r
f q = I prq pr + Iqq q + g mq maero , f r = I pq
pq + Irr r + g nr naero ,
T

I qrp = ( I yy I zz ) I xx , g lp = 1 I xx , Ipp = glp Ixx ,

I prq = ( I zz I xx ) I yy , Iqq = g mq Iyy , g mq = 1 I yy ,

x = f ( x ) + g1 ( x )u + g2 ( x )d

r
I pq
= ( I xx I yy ) I zz , Irr = g nr Izz , g nr = 1 I zz ,

pb
rb

Cl , + Cl , p
laero = qSb
+ Cl , r
,
V
V
2
2

and

qc

Cm,a + Cm,q
( CD, sin + CL, cos ) ,
maero = qSc
+ X cg qS
2
V

g1 ( x ), g2 ( x ) R n m .

pb
rb

Cn, + Cn, p
Y ,
naero = qSb
+ Cn , r
+ X cg qSC
2
2
V
V

nonsingular

MC = g f + Mr

is

the

g mq

norm-bounded

torque

vector;

control system (RCS); g f is a 3 3 matrix, its equation is

gf

g q , a
g r , a

g p , r

g q , r

g r , r

x = f ( x ) + g1 ( x ) [ u + g0 ( x )d ]

D , a

sin + CL , r

(5)

III. DESIGN OF CONTROL SYSTEM BASED ON NDO

The structure of the control system based on NDO is
shown in Figure 1. Where xr is the state vector of the

)
cos ) ,

g q , e = qScC
m , e + X cg qS CD , e sin + CL , e cos ,

g q , a = qScC
m , a + X cg

(4)

The objective of this paper is to design a nonlinear

controller such that the influence of the disturbance d can be
attenuated to a specified level. Within this framework, a NDO
is required to estimate the influence of the disturbance. The
NDO is integrated with a conventional sliding mode controller
to compensate the influence of disturbances based on the
estimate.

where g p , e = qSbC
l , e , g p , a = qSbCl , a , g p , r = qSbCl , r ,

(
(C
qS

that

If equation (3) satisfies Assumption 1, it can be described

by the following

g p , a

g0 ( x ) R m m

g1 ( x ) g0 ( x ) = g2 ( x )

= [ e , a , r ] is the aerodynamic surface (right

elevator-aileron, left elevator-aileron and rudder control
surface
respectively)
deflections
vector;
T
M r = [lTr , mTr , nTr ] is the control torque vector of the reaction
g p , e

= g q , e

g r , e

matrix

satisfies

g nr )

control

Assumption 1: In the universe of x , there exists a

g f is a 3 3 matrix, its equation is

g f = diag ( g lp

(3)

where x R , u R , d R are the state vector, input

,
disturbance,
respectively.
f ( x) Rn
n

reference model, u is the control input, x is the state vector

of the plant.

g q , r = qScC
m , r + X cg qSCD , r sin ,

xr

gr ,e = qSbC
n,e + X cg qSCY ,e , gr , a = qSbCn,a + X cg qSCY , a ,

g r , r = qSbC
n , r + X cg qSCY , r .

The flight control system is to determine the control inputs c

and pulse modulation command of the RCS such that the

Fig.1 Structure of the control system based on NDO

desired mission angular profiles c are robustly followed.

The nonlinear system of HGV can be divided into two
control loops: the fast loop and slow loop. The resulting
controller utilizes two-loop controller and provides robust
tracking of the required tracks. Angle rate = [ p, q, r ] is
T

the state vector for the fast loop and is called as fast state
vector; = [ , , ] is the state vector for the slow loop
T

and is called as slow state vector.

Disturbances widely exist in engineering. The
disturbances concerned are supposed to be time-varying but
with bounded variation. When unknown disturbances are
considered, the fast loop and slow loop of HGV can be
described by the following nonlinear model:

A general design procedure for system (3) consists of two

stages. In the first stage, the controller is designed under the
assumption that there is no disturbance. All the existing
methods for designing a nonlinear controller can be used in
this stage. In the second stage, a nonlinear disturbance
observer is designed and then integrated with the previous
designed controller. Design of the controller is separated from
design of the disturbance observer. In principle, it can be used
to enhance the disturbance attenuation ability for any
controller.
A. Design of Nominal System Controller
The nominal system controller is designed under the
assumption that there is no disturbance.To design an
appropriate sliding mode controller, the angular velocity
vector required to provide asymptotic tracking of the

1574

desired mission angular profile is determined by

considering angular velocity as a virtual control input to
the kinematics equation (1). This command angular velocity
profile c is then tracked by designing a suitable sliding
mode controller for the dynamic equation (2). Therefore, a
terminal sliding-mode model is designed as following[8-10]

s =  e + as e + bs eqs / ps = 0

(6)

( x) =

is slow, it is reasonable to suppose that d 0 .

Based on Assumption 2, there is
( x )


ed = d d d = z
x
x

qs and ps are positive odd

integers, ps > qs . It can be easily verified that, given any

initial state e (0) 0 , the dynamics (6) will reach e = 0 in
a finite time determined by

Theorem 1: Consider system (3) satisfying Assumption 1

and Assumption 2, the disturbance observer (11) can
exponentially track the disturbance d if the nonlinear gain

(7)

equation (1), we obtain

c = g s1  c + as e + bs eq / p f s

ed = ( x ) g2 ( x )ed

ed = ( x ) g2 ( x ) [ z + ( x ) ] + ( x ) [ f ( x ) + g1 ( x )u]

(8)

c is the virtual control input of the slow loop.

( x ) [ f ( x ) + g1 ( x )u + g2 ( x )d ]

As above, a terminal sliding-mode model is designed as

following[8,9]

= ( x ) g2 ( x ) d d = ( x ) g2 ( x )ed

=0

(9)

where e = c , a f , b f > 0 , q f and p f are positive odd

e = c and consider the equation (2), we obtain

(15)

Therefore, if equation (3) is globally exponentially stable,

the d tracking d is guaranteed. This completes the proof.

the disturbance d if ( x ) is chosen such that equation (14)

(10)

will track c in finite time.

B. Design of NDO
To estimate the unknown disturbance d , a NDO is

is globally exponentially stable. Consider the fact of the HGV,

the following assumption is imposed.
Assumption 3: Consider the nonlinear system (3), its
coefficient matrix of rows and columns are the same. In other
word, n = m = 3 . Therefore, g1 ( x ) R 33 , g2 ( x ) R 33 ,

d R3 , z R3 , d R3 , ( x ) R3 , ( x ) R 33 .

suggested as[11-13]
z = ( x ) g2 ( x ) [ z + ( x ) ] ( x ) [ f ( x ) + g1 ( x )u]

d = z + ( x )

C. Stability Analysis of the Control System Based on NDO

According to Theorem 1, the estimation d can converge to

integers, p f > q f . To calculate the derivative of

q /p
M C = g f 1  c + a f e + b f e f f f f

(14)

is globally exponentially stable.

Proof: Putting equations (3), (11) and (12) into (13) leads
to

To calculate the derivative of e = c and consider the

q / pf

(13)

function ( x ) is chosen such that

ps
a (0) ( ps qs )/ ps + bs
tf =
, i = 1, 2, 3
ln s ei
a s ( ps q s )
bs

f =  e + a f e + b f e f

(12)

In general, there is no prior information about the

derivative of the disturbance, the following assumption is
imposed.
Assumption 2: The change of the unknown disturbance d

where e = c is the tracking error of , as , bs > 0 ,

eqs / ps = eqs / ps , eqs / ps , eqs / ps ,

( x )
x

Assumption 4: Consider the nonlinear system (3), g2 ( x )

(11)

where z Rm are the internal state variables of the observer.

d R m is the estimation of the unknown disturbance d .

is positive definite matrix.

Theorem 2: Consider the nonlinear system (3) and NDO
(11) satisfying Assumption 3 and Assumption 4, when the
nonlinear function ( x ) is chosen as

( x ) R m is a nonlinear function vector to be designed.

x c3
x c1
x c2
( x ) = 1 x1 + 1 2 x2 + 2 3 x3 + 3
c3
c1
c2

(16)

( x ) R mn is the nonlinear gain function of the observer

and satisfies
1575

the equation (14) is global asymptotic stability and the

observer error ed converges to the origin, where i > 0 , ci is
positive odd integer, i = 1, 2,3 .
Proof: From Assumption 3 and Assumption 4, we know
that g2 ( x ) is positive definite matrix. Consider a candidate of
Lyapunov functions as
V=

1 T
e d g 2 ( x ) ed
2

1
1
T
= edT g2 ( x) ( ( x) ) g2 ( x)ed edT g2 ( x)( x) g2 ( x)ed
2
2
Consider

)
(

1 1 + x1c1 1
0
0

( x )
( x) =
0
2 1 + x2c2 1
0
=

x
0
0
3 1 + x3c3 1

(18)

(20)

asymptotic stability and the observer error ed converges to

the origin. This completes the proof.
IV. COMPOSITE CONTROLLERS FOR HGV
During an HGV reenters atmosphere, it is hard to
recognize the unknown disturbance. It is necessary to design a
flight control system for the HGV based on NDO. After the
nonlinear disturbance observer is designed as in (11), it is
integrated with a sliding mode controller to compensate the
influence of disturbances. The structure of the flight control
system for HGV is shown in Figure 2.

ds

MC

d f

is

the

initial

rate

vector;

H (0) = 60km is the initial altitude; V (0) = 3.6km / s is the

initial velocity; The required instructions of attitude angles are
c = 9 , c = 0 and c = 7 . The deflection angle of aero
control surfaces limiting is 30 . The disturbance moment d
is supposed as

d = [100 sin( t ) 200 sin( t ) 200 sin( t ) ] Nm

T

Simulation plots are shown in Figure 3, where c , c and

c are the required instructions of attitude angles; d , d
and d are the tracking attitude angles under the controller
without NDO; NDO , NDO and NDO are the tracking
attitude angles under the same controller with NDO; ed , ad
and rd are the deflection angles of aero control surfaces

11

1.2

10

Fig.2 Structure of the flight control system for HGV

Consider the unknown disturbance, the dynamic equations

of HGV can be described by the following

8
7
6
5

NDO

3
t/s

(a) Angle of attack

(21)

1576

NDO , d, c /deg

NDO, d, c /deg

 = f s + gs + d s

 = f f + g f M C + d f

angular

under the controller without NDO; eNDO , aNDO and rNDO

are the deflection angles of aero control surfaces under the
controller with NDO.

(23)

Simulation parameters of the HGV are given as

following: M = 1250kg is the HGV mass; (0) = 2 ,
(0) = 1 and (0) = 3 are initial attitude angles;

When ed 0 , V < 0 , the equation (14) is global

Mc = Mc M

V. SIMULATION RESULTS

(0) = [ 0, 0, 0 ]

V = edT g 2 ( x ) ( x ) g 2 ( x )ed

(22)

The control law is u = u u which can compensate the

influence of disturbances, where u is the control output of the
nominal system controller. The control law based on NDO for
HGV can be described by the following

(19)

( x ) is positive definite matrix. Therefore

 = f s + gs ( + gs1 d s )

1
 = f f + g f ( M C + g f d f

c = c ,

i > 0 , ci is positive odd integer, i = 1, 2,3 , we know that

disturbances of slow loop and fast loop.

Consider the fact of the HGV, we know gs and g f are
invertible. Therefore, equation (21) can be described by the
following

(17)

1
Then V = ( edT g2 ( x )ed + edT g2 ( x )ed )
2

where d s = d , d , d and d f = d p , d q , d r are the

NDO
d

0.8

0.6
0.4
0.2
0

-0.2

3
t/s

(b) Sideslip angle

[8]

12

eNDO ,ed/deg

NDO , d,c /deg

10
8
6

NDO

c
0

eNDO

20

ed

[9]

10
0
-10

[10]

-20

30

-30

t/s

(c) Roll angle

[12]

rNDO
rd

20

rNDO ,r/deg

10
0
-10
-20

aNDO

-30

ad
0

[11]

(d) Deflection angle of left elevon

30

aNDO ,ad/deg

3
t/s

[13]

2
0
-2

-4

t/s

t/s

(e) Deflection angle of right elevon

(f) Deflection angle of rudder

Fig.3 Tracking performance comparison

By comparison, it can be seen that the flight control system

based on NDO for the HGV achieves excellent results.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
This paper proposes a flight control system for a
Hypersonic Gliding Vehicle based on NDO and terminal
sliding mode control. The NDO can estimate the unknown
disturbances and the influence of disturbances is estimated by
the NDO. By the reasonable integration, the NDO is
integrated with a conventional sliding mode controller to
compensate the influence of disturbances based on the
estimate. The effectiveness of the proposed method is
demonstrated by the simulation results.

REFERENCES
[1]

[2]
[3]
[4]

[5]

[6]
[7]

B.N. Pamadi, P.F. Covell, P.V. Tartabini, et al. "Aerodynamic

Characteristics and Glide-Back Performance of Langley Glide-Back
Booster". in Proc. 22nd Applied Aerodynamics Conf. and Exhibit.
Providence, RI, USA: 16-19 Aug. 2004, pp. 1-17.
[2] E.M. Yong. "Study on Trajectory Optimization and Guidance
Approach for Hypersonic Glide-reentry Vehicle", Ph.D. dissertation,
Changsha: National University of Defense Technology, 2008.
[3] S.J. Song. "Speed Storm: Depth Secrets of American Falcon Rapid
Global Strike and Space Launch Program ". Modern Weaponry, 2008,
vol. 12, pp. 20-29.
[4] V. Morio, F. Cazaurang, P Vernis. "Flatness-based Hypersonic
Reentry Guidance of a Lifting-body Vehicle". Control Engineering
Practice, 2009, vol. 17, num. 5, pp. 588-596.
[5] S.H. Walker, C.J. Sherk. "The DARPA/AF Falcon Program The
Hypersonic Technology Vehicle #2 (HTV-2) Flight Demonstration
Phase". AIAA 2008-2539, 15th AIAA International Space Planes and
Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conf., Dayton, Ohio, 28 April 1 May 2008.
[6] M.P. Kleiman. "High-speed air vehicles designed for rapid global
reach". AFMC News Service, 27 January 2006.
[7] C.S. Qian, Q.X. Wu, C.S. Jiang, ea al. "Atmospheric Reentry
Modeling of Aerospace Vehicle Dynamics for Conceptual Design
Studies". Journal of Astronautics, 2008vol. 29, num. 2, pp. 434-439.

1577

[8] X. Yu, Z. Man." Fast terminal sliding mode control design for
nonlinear dynamic systems". IEEE Trans Circuits Systems Part I, 2002,
vol. 39 , num. 2, pp. 261-264.
[9] G.Y. Huang, C.S. Jiang, Y.H. Wang. "Research of Terminal Sliding
Mode Control Based on Fast Fuzzy Disturbance Observer for UASV
Re-entry". Journal of Astronautics, 2007, vol. 28, num. 2, pp. 292-297.
[10] G.Y. Huang, C.S. Jiang, Y.L. Xue. "An adaptive terminal sliding
mode control and its applications". Journal of Aerospace Power, 2008,
vol. 23, num. 1, pp. 156-162.
[11] W.H. Chen. "Harmonic Disturbance Observer for Nonlinear
systems". Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control,
2003, vol.125,num. 1, pp. 114-117.
[12] W.H. Chen. "Disturbance Observer Based Control for Nonlinear
Systems". IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2004, vol. 9,
num. 4, pp. 706-710.
[13] W.H. Chen, D.J. Balance, P.J. Gawthrop, et al. "A Nonlinear
Disturbance Observer for Robotic Manipulators". IEEE Transactions of
Industrial Electronics, 2000, vol. 47, num. 4, pp. 932-938.