Robust longitudinal control for a hypersonic glider with moving-mass actuation via L1-augmented dynamic inversion

Purpose – This paper aims to address the robust longitudinal control challenge in a bank-to-turn (BTT) hypersonic vehicle actuated by a single moving mass and a reaction control system, which introduces severe time-varying inertia and strong cross-coupling. Design/methodology/approach – A composite control strategy is developed by augmenting a dynamic inversion (DI) baseline controller with an L1 adaptive loop. The DI controller provides nominal tracking performance for the angle of attack, while the L1 adaptive element rapidly compensates for both matched and unmatched uncertainties. A sliding mode controller is also designed to precisely track the moving-mass displacement command. Findings – Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the proposed L1-augmented DI controller significantly enhances robustness, reducing the worst-case tracking error by 21.75% compared to the baseline DI controller. It also achieves fast convergence (<0.8 s) with minimal overshoot (<10%) under combined severe uncertainties, including mass, inertia, aerodynamic variations and actuator misalignment. Practical implications – The proposed control architecture provides a validated solution for ensuring robust performance of moving-mass-actuated vehicles facing real-world uncertainties. This work is critical for the development of next-generation, ablation-resistant hypersonic vehicles that do not rely on traditional ablation-prone control surfaces. Originality/value – This work presents the novel application and validation of a DI-L1 adaptive control architecture to a moving-mass-actuated BTT vehicle, a complex and underexplored scenario. It explicitly characterizes the moving-mass-induced disturbances and demonstrates superior robustness through high-fidelity simulations.