Abstract:

Boom refueling, which is of functional complementation with probe and drogue refueling, is a preferable method for large aircraft. Issues such as dynamic modeling and control of refueling boom should be resolved in the process of boom refueling technology development. Under the assumption of the tanker’s straight level flight, the dynamic model of refueling boom is established, considering variable mass distribution and aerodynamic uncertainty. System uncertainty is regarded as compound disturbance. The nominal system is decoupled into the pitching subsystem and the rolling subsystem by feedback linearization. The nonlinear disturbance observer based backstepping adaptive controller is designed for both of them. Simulation results indicate that this controller is robust to various conditions of uncertainty. It is concluded that performance of the controller designed is better than the conventional stability augmentation control system.