A nonlinear control design methodology using maneuvering ideas

This thesis presents a method of nonlinear control design where system behaviors are described as maneuver curves in the state-control space of the system. The concept of using feedback to enable the system to perform these behaviors in a reliable manner is an essential aspect of this methodology. To this purpose, several methods for constructing achievable maneuvers for the system and several methods for designing feedback controllers using maneuvering ideas are presented.; The Coordinated Flight Vehicle model (or CFV) is used as a platform to display these maneuver generation ideas. Using static and dynamic inversion techniques the CFV can be used to generate flight maneuvers of generic aircraft. Also presented is path following, a maneuver design tool to generate maneuvers of the CFV model with a fixed (or predetermined) throttle setting. In piloted flight, the throttle is seldom used as a steering control, so with path following, we attempt to generate flight maneuvers similar to what a real pilot might achieve.; Maneuver regulation is a control alternative to trajectory tracking. Maneuver regulation uses a fibration of the state space about a maneuver to define a projection from that space onto the maneuver. By using this projection point in a stable trajectory tracking feedback control law, we achieve stable maneuver regulation. Although only fibrations consistent with a valid Lyapunov function of the trajectory tracking control law are proven to provide stable maneuver regulation, some evidence is presented that supports our claim that any transverse foliation of the space about the maneuver provides stable maneuver regulation.; A major contribution of this thesis is the emphasis on dynamic visualization. Dynamic visualization is a tool that allows the control designer to more readily understand maneuver and control design problems through the use of computer graphics. These tools include computer animations and interactive simulators. Several examples of the author's use of dynamic visualization will be presented.