Performance and Robustness Assessment for a Port-Hamiltonian Input-to-State Stabilizing Flight Controller

Authors

Samuel Widman, Ian Willebeek-LeMair, Craig A. Woolsey

Abstract

This paper presents a flight control law that leverages the structure of fixed-wing aircraft flight dynamics to obtain input-to-state stability, impose a port-Hamiltonian structure on the closed-loop system, and ensure that the closed-loop system is robust to disturbances and model uncertainty. The control approach is compared with two alternatives – linear-quadratic optimal control and nonlinear dynamic inversion – to illustrate the practical advantages implied by the theoretical guarantees and some limitations. The three controllers are compared using individual simulations of a nonlinear model for an uncrewed aircraft, including exogenous disturbances and model uncertainty. Further, two simulation studies were performed to analyze the specific impact of flight-based, realistic stochastic disturbances. The new flight control law performed as expected, and usually better than both alternatives. The simulations demonstrate an expected shortcoming of the nonlinear design: sensitivity to disturbances outside of the design uncertainty class. Future work includes investigating alternative formulations of the robust port-Hamiltonian controller and a transition to flight test.

Citation

• Journal: AIAA SCITECH 2026 Forum
• Year: 2026
• Volume:
• Issue:
• Pages:
• Publisher: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• DOI: 10.2514/6.2026-2811

BibTeX

@inproceedings{Widman_2026,
  title={{Performance and Robustness Assessment for a Port-Hamiltonian Input-to-State Stabilizing Flight Controller}},
  DOI={10.2514/6.2026-2811},
  booktitle={{AIAA SCITECH 2026 Forum}},
  publisher={American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics},
  author={Widman, Samuel and Willebeek-LeMair, Ian and Woolsey, Craig A.},
  year={2026}
}

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