Robust backstepping decentralized tracking control for the hypersonic flight vehicle with nonlinear uncertainties

In this paper, the design of robust backstepping decentralized tracking controller is addressed for the longitudinal dynamics of a generic hypersonic flight vehicle with external disturbances, parameter perturbations, and non-continuous unknown nonlinear aerodynamic influence. To deal with the complex system, the standard backstepping and signal compensation method are combined to construct a 'simple' robust controller. The proposed method can not only ensure the semi-global robust practical tracking property of the closed-loop system, but also guarantee the tracking error as small as desired with expected convergence rate. Simulation results with nonlinear uncertainties, external disturbances and parameter perturbations illustrate the effectiveness of the methodology.