Control Lyapunov and Barrier Function Based Analytic Controller for Air-Breathing Hypersonic Vehicles

This paper presents an analytic controller for an air-breathing hypersonic vehicle (AHV) that accounts for constraints of its propulsion system. The performance objectives of the controller are expressed through the construction of a suitable control Lyapunov function (CLF), whereas the engine-related constraints are specified by a control barrier function (CBF). Unifying these performance and constraint objectives, the controller design task is stated as a quadratic program (QP). This QP is solved analytically to yield a controller that minimizes a pre-determined cost function and, thus, also exhibits a certain degree of optimality. The resulting controller shows good regulation and tracking performance while ensuring no constraints are violated. This is demonstrated through numerical simulations of the controlled AHV.