Course keeping Control of Boeing 747 by using a Minimum Order Observer State Controller

In this paper, a state space mathematical model of the Boeing 747 was defined, particularly for the lateral aircraft motions. A dynamical behavior of the model has been analized through numerical and graph-analytical methods. A Pole-placement approach of designing the control system was applied. A minimum-observer state based feedback controller was discussed. The whole model was developed by using Matlab and simulated by Simulink. A full-order observer was proposed because of its less sensitivity on measurement errors than the minimum-order (or reduced-order) observer (or state estimator). In the extreme cases, where the output noise is a significant problem, then an application of Kalman filter was suggested. Keywords— Boeing 747, course keeping control, poleplacement, minimum-order observer, state controller, Matlab, Simulink.