Fault-Tolerant $H_{\infty}$ Control for a Linear Parameter-Varying Model of Morphing Aircraft

To address the issues of external disturbances and actuator multiplicative faults for a morphing aircraft during wingspan deformation, this article proposes a fault-tolerant <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$H_{\infty}$</tex> control method based on a linear parameter-varying (LPV) model. First, an LPV model of the morphing aircraft is constructed using the Jacobian linearization approach, with the wingspan deformation rate as the scheduling parameter. Then, the LPV system is transformed into a polytopic form to address the infinite-dimensional linear matrix inequality (LMI) problem that results from the continuity of the scheduling parameter. Furthermore, a fault-tolerant <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$H_{\infty}$</tex> control algorithm is designed to ensure that the closed-loop system satisfies the <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$H_{\infty}$</tex> performance index under external disturbances and actuator faults, thereby achieving robust stability and fault tolerance. Finally, comparative simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed control method.