A Hierarchical Control Approach to Morphing Dynamics

This paper presents a hierarchical approach to control law design for morphing dynamics. The starting point is a performance map defined on a subspace of the morphing state-space which defines operation regime of the morphing structure. It is shown that a discrete connected graph can be superimposed on the performance envelope, traversing whose nodes makes all morphing states inside the envelope accessible from every other point. The approach is model based and the control laws for transferring the system from one node to another are designed using a successive linear-quadratic-regulator approach. An example is presented based on a two-dimensional, two degree-of-freedom morphing structure to illustrate the hierarchical approach.