Disturbance Observer and Disturbance Utilization-Based Attitude Tracking Control for Hypersonic Vehicles

Hypersonic vehicle attitude control faces dual challenges from internal parameter uncertainties and external environmental disturbances. To address these challenges, this article proposes a composite controller that not only effectively suppresses harmful disturbances but also actively utilizes beneficial disturbances to enhance control performance. To accurately quantify the impact characteristics of lumped disturbances (incorporating both model uncertainties and unmodeled dynamics), a disturbance characterization index is designed to characterize their beneficial and detrimental properties. Innovatively, a disturbance utilization control strategy based on attitude tracking error is proposed, which simultaneously improves dynamic response and tracking accuracy while ensuring stability. Furthermore, a nonlinear disturbance observer with error compensation mechanism is designed to enhance system robustness. Simulation demonstrates the proposed method’s superior performance in hypersonic vehicle attitude control.