Nonlinear Aircraft Flight Control Using the Forward Propagating Riccati Equation

This paper presents application of the forward-propagating Riccati equation (FPRE) control for the aircraft flight control system for command following and disturbance rejection. Unlike classical finite-horizon optimal control, where the differential Riccati equation is integrated backwards in time for a given final-time condition, FPRE control uses differential equations that are integrated forward in time. Although this technique is heuristic and guarantees neither performance nor stability, simplicity of the FPRE algorithm makes it attractive for applications for nonlinear systems defined using a state-dependent coefficient parameterization. The performance of the proposed flight control system is investigated via the numerical simulations using a nonlinear model of a fixed-wing aircraft.