Improved active disturbance rejection tail-sitter control method with distributed dynamic pressure gain compensation

The tail-sitter aircraft’s transition control between the vertical take-off and landing mode (VTOL) and the level flight mode is plagued by drastic model changes, significantly complicating the flight control design during the transition phase. This paper presents an enhanced active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) technique using distributed dynamic pressure gain compensation for twin-engine flying wing-type tailstock aircraft as the specific research object. The observer model of the active disturbance rejection controller is improved according to the appropriately simplified model, and the different flight stages are unified into a single continuous flight mode in combination with the dynamic pressure detection gain adjustment. The problem of model change in the transition process is effectively solved. During the real flight test, the aircraft’s attitude change from 0° to 90° causes significant changes in the model parameters; however, the tail-sitter aircraft maintains a smooth transition control effect.