Nonlinear Controller Synthesis for Single-Input Multiple-Output Systems with Application to Cruise Missile

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a new systematic procedure for synthesis of nonlinear controllers for single-input multiple-output systems. The procedure is based on several describing function models of the plant, and the nonlinear gains are obtained via an inverse describing function technique. The procedure and associated software are applied to control the bank angle of a cruise missile. The results are compared with a linear controller and another nonlinear controller that was previously reported in the open literature; it is shown that the developed procedure has resulted in a less conservative design (i.e., performance is not sacrificed to assure absolute stability).