Abstract
In plateau environment, aircraft encounter significant challenges stemming from low air density, strong and turbulent winds, insufficient lift and stability, as well as a tendency toward lateral–longitudinal coupling instability. To mitigate these issues, distributed propulsion technology is introduced to improve both aerodynamic and handling performance. This is combined with a boundary protection control strategy designed to enhance flight safety under complex wind conditions. First, dynamic wind tunnel tests are carried out to examine the longitudinal and lateral aerodynamic characteristics of a distributed propulsion vehicle, leading to the development of aerodynamic and dynamic models. A flight control law is then devised, in which control parameters are adaptively tuned based on the real-time flight state, and the time-domain characteristics of the resulting closed-loop system are analyzed. By systematically evaluating the flight dynamics across a wide range of initial conditions, a dynamic safety boundary is established. On this basis, a boundary protection control scheme is developed using a deep neural network. Finally, altitude flight tests are performed within the prescribed dynamic boundary, and the results validate the effectiveness of the proposed boundary protection control method.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This work was supported by the Scientific Research Project of Taihang Laboratory under Grant A2053.
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Zehong Dong and Xingya Da contributed to the study conception and design. Controller design, material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Zehong Dong, Botao Zhang, and Longkai Guo. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Dong, Z., Da, X., Zhang, B. et al. Safety boundary protection control for distributed propulsion vehicle operating in plateau environment. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39328-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39328-3
