Research Topics and Publications

 

 Robust Adaptive Rejection of Harmonic Sensor Disturbances
 
The problem of output regulation in the presence of unknown harmonic disturbances acting additively on dynamic systems, represents a situation of extreme interest in control system theory as witnessed by many applications. Control engineers face this problem when dealing with vibrating structures, active noise control, control of rotating mechanisms with eccentricity, control of hard disk drives and vibrations suppression in helicopters. The problem we are considering departs from the standard output regulation framework since the disturbance is assumed to be additive to the sensor input and so the signal that needs to be regulated to zero is not available.
   
   
Robust Nonlinear Control of Air-Breathing Hypersonic Vehicle Models
 
Air-breathing hypersonic vehicles represent such a promising technology that in the past few years a considerable effort has been made by NASA and the US-Air Force for their development and design. Vehicles of this type can carry more cargo/payload than equivalent rocket-powered systems since they do not need to carry oxygen tanks. In turn, the scramjet engine allows these vehicle to operate at very high Mach number, by maximizing the efficiency of the combustion process. As a result, these vehicles offer a cost-effective technology for reliable access to space and prompt global strike capabilities. Notwithstanding the recent success of NASA’s X-43A experimental vehicle,
 
the design of robust guidance and control systems for hypersonic vehicles is still an open problem, due to the peculiar characteristics of the vehicle dynamics. The slender geometries required for these aircraft cause significant flexible effects; strong coupling between propulsive and aerodynamic forces results from the underslung location of the scramjet engine; in addition, because of the variability of the vehicle characteristics with flight conditions (e.g., fuel consumption and thermal effects on the structure), significant uncertainties affect the vehicle model.
 

 
   
  [1] L. Fiorentini, A. Serrani, M. Bolender, and D. Doman, “Nonlinear Robust Adaptive Control of Flexible Air-breathing Hypersonic Vehicles". AIAA, Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 402-417, 2009.
   
  [8] L. Fiorentini, A. Serrani, “ Nonlinear Adaptive Control Design for Non-minimum Phase Hypersonic Vehicle Models with Minimal Control Authority". Accepted at the 48th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Shanghai, Dec 2009.
   
  [7] L. Fiorentini, A. Serrani, M. Bolender, and D. Doman, “ Nonlinear Control of Non-minimum Phase Hypersonic Vehicle Models". In Proceedings of the 2009 American Control Conference. St. Louis, Missouri, USA - June 10-12, 2009.
   
  [6] A. Serrani, A. Zinnecker, L. Fiorentini, M. Bolender, and D. Doman,“ Integrated Adaptive Guidance and Control of Constrained Nonlinear Air-breathing Hypersonic Vehicle Models". In Proceedings of the 2009 American Control Conference. St. Louis, Missouri, USA - June 10-12, 2009.
   
  [5] L. Fiorentini, A. Serrani, M. Bolender, and D. Doman, “Including Flexible Effects in the Closed-loop Stability Analysis for an Air-breathing Hypersonic Vehicle". 34th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Symposium, Dayton, March 3, 2009.
   
  [4] L. Fiorentini, A. Serrani, M. Bolender, and D. Doman, “ Nonlinear Control of a Hypersonic Vehicle with Structural Flexibility ". In Proceedings of the 47th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control , Cancun, Mexico, 2008. .
   
  [3] L. Fiorentini, A. Serrani, M. Bolender, and D. Doman, “ Robust nonlinear sequential loop closure control design for an air-breathing hypersonic vehicle model". In Proceedings of the 2008 American Control Conference , USA Seattle, 2008.
   
  [2] L. Fiorentini, A. Serrani, M. Bolender, and D. Doman,“Nonlinear Robust/ adaptive Controller Design for an Air-breathing Hypersonic Vehicle Model”. In Proceedings of the AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit, Hilton Head, SC, 2007, AIAA Paper 2007-6329.
   
  [1] L. Fiorentini, A. Serrani, and S. Longhi, "A state-space approach to adaptive rejection of harmonic sensor disturbances in discrete-time systems". In Proceedings of the 14th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation , Ancona, Italy, 2006.
   
  [2] L.Fiorentini, "Nonlinear Adaptive Controller Design for an Air-breathing Hypersonic Vehicle Model".
  NIA - NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA - June 2009
   
  [1] L.Fiorentini, "On the Peaking Phenomena Occurring in Air-breathing Hypersonic Vehicles".
  The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA - February 2009
   
  [2] L.Fiorentini, A. Serrani, "Nonlinear robust adaptive control of flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicles". 15th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference, Dayton, USA, April 2008
   
  [1] L.Fiorentini, K. Groves, D. Sigthorsson, "Anti-windup design for control of air-breathing hypersonic vehicle models ". 2005 Annual Review of the Air Force Research Laboratory and Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Collaborative Center of Control Science at the OSU, November 29-30.
   
   
   
Andrea Serrani
Associate Professor - The Ohio State University - Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Michael A. Bolender
 Aerospace Engineer - Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RBCA)
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, USA
David B. Doman
 Senior Aerospace Engineer - Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RBCA)
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, USA
Sauro Longhi
 Full Professor - Università Politecnica delle Marche - DIIGA