Decoupling control for tailless aircraft based fractional-order error extended state observer
Yunlong Hu
Mingfei Zhao
Jia Song
Wenling Li
Yang Liu
Abstract：The elimination of the vertical tail in tailless aircraft results in a significant decrease in heading static stability, causing substantial coupling among the three control channels. In addition, in specific operational scenarios, the tailless aircraft is prone to electromagnetic interference, leading to the generation of high-frequency noise and consequently compromising their control performance. To address these issues, a decoupling control method based on a fractional-order error extended state observer (FOEESO) is proposed. A nonlinear model of a tailless aircraft with thrust vectoring capabilities is first developed. The decoupling control design for the three control channels is then implemented using FOEESO, with the asymptotic convergence conditions outlined. The proposed method is evaluated through simulations and compared to coupled control and linear extended state observer (LESO) techniques. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the FOEESO-based control methodology achieves effective decoupling, exhibiting 6.9% and 11.7% reductions in integral absolute error (IAE) relative to LESO under nominal operational conditions and critical fault scenarios, respectively. These improvements thereby highlight FOEESO's capability to enhance closed-loop stability and tracking precision in tailless aircraft control systems.
Keywords：Tailless aircraftDecoupling controlADRCHigh-frequency noise
Publication Date：2025-08-30
Online Publishing Date：2025-12-09(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：13( 397-409 )