This paper is a numerical investigation on model reduction and control
system design of integrally actuated membrane wings. A high-fidelity
electro-aeromechanical model is used for the simulation of the dynamic
fluid-structure interaction between a low-Reynolds-number flow and a dielectric
elastomeric wing. Two reduced-order models with different levels of
complexity are then derived. They are based on the projection of the fullorder
discretisation of fluid and structure on modal shapes obtained from
eigenvalue analysis and Proper Orthogonal Decomposition. The low-order
systems are then used for the design of Proportional-Integral-Derivative and
Linear Quadratic Gaussian feedback schemes to control wing lift. When implemented
in the full-order model, closed-loop dynamics are in very good
agreement with the reduced-order model for both tracking and gust rejection,
demonstrating the suitability of the approach. The control laws
selected in this work were found to be effective only for low-frequency disturbances
due to the large phase delay introduced by the fluid convective
time-scales, but results demonstrate the potential for the aerodynamic control
of membrane wings in outdoor flight using dielectric elastomers.