Linear Optimal Control of an Aerial Vehicle by Utilizing the Dynamic Model of Propulsion System and Velocity Feedback

In this article, optimal control of an aerial vehicle is investigated with consideration of its dynamics and modeling of an air-breathing propulsion system, using its velocity feedback.To this end, the dynamic equations of the vehicle and mathematical model of the air-breathing propulsion system are derived. Then, the non-linear dynamic equations of the vehicle and the equations of the propulsion system are combined. By presenting dynamic equations in state space, the linear optimal control formulation with dynamic constraint equations and minimum energy cost function is developed. By solving this optimal control problem, variant simulations are performed. Note, considering different initial conditions and ancertainity, the system's optimal control has been implemented fairly well. Moreover, the weighting coefficients of the optimal control problem considerably affect the optimal path and energy consumption. The obtained results indicate the applicability of the proposed method for modeling and control of the aerial vehicle with an air-breathing propulsion system.