Enhanced Fuzzy-Based Super-Twisting Sliding-Mode Control System for the Cessna Citation X Lateral Motion

A novel combination of three control systems is presented in this paper: an adaptive control system, a type-two fuzzy logic system, and a super-twisting sliding mode control (STSMC) system. This combination was developed at the Laboratory of Applied Research in Active Controls, Avionics and AeroServoElasticity (LARCASE). This controller incorporates two methods to calculate the gains of the switching term in the STSMC utilizing the particle swarm optimization algorithm: (1) adaptive gains and (2) optimized gains. This methodology was applied to a nonlinear model of the Cessna Citation X business jet aircraft generated by the simulation platform developed at the LARCASE in Simulink/MATLAB (R2022b) for aircraft lateral motion. The platform was validated with flight data obtained from a Level-D research aircraft flight simulator manufactured by the CAE (Montreal, Canada). Level D denotes the highest qualification that the FAA issues for research flight simulators. The performances of controllers were evaluated using the turbulence generated by the Dryden model. The simulation results show that this controller can address both turbulence and existing uncertainties. Finally, the controller was validated for 925 flight conditions over the whole flight envelope for a single configuration using both adaptive and optimized gains in switching terms of the STSMC.