Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T23:51:27.928Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Vectorial backstepping method–based trajectory tracking control for an under-actuated stratospheric airship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2017

S. Q. Liu*
Affiliation:
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
S. J. Gong
Affiliation:
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
Y. X. Li
Affiliation:
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
Z. R. Lu
Affiliation:
Xi'an Flight Automatic Control Institute of Chinese Aviation Industry, Xi'an, China

Abstract

A new trajectory tracking control approach for an under-actuated stratospheric airship is proposed. There is a two-level structure of the proposed controller. A low-level controller based on non-linear vectorial backstepping method, with the rigid-body dynamics expressed on vector form, stabilises the attitude and velocity of the airship, while a high-level controller performs guidance and trajectory tracking task in the three-dimensional (3D) space. Furthermore, a control allocation module based on the active set algorithm is incorporated into the low-level controller to optimise the practical control inputs under constraints of actuator saturation. The closed-loop trajectory tracking control plant is proved to be globally exponentially stable through the Lyapunov theory. Finally, simulations show that the vectorial backstepping trajectory tracking controller can achieve desired tracking performances even if the airship is affected by parametric uncertainties and exogenous disturbances.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Kulczycki, E.A., Joshi, S.S., Hess, R.A. et al. Towards controller design for autonomous airships using SLC and LQR methods, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit, AIAA 2006-6778, 2006, Keystone, Colorado, US.Google Scholar
2. Trevino, R., Frye, M., Franz, J.A. et al. Robust receding horizon control of a tri-turbofan airship, IEEE International Conference on Control and Automation, ICCA 2007, Guang zhou, China, pp 671-676.Google Scholar
3. Benjovengo, F.P., Paiva, E.C. and Bueno, S.S. Sliding mode control approaches for an autonomous unmanned airship, The 18th Lighter-Than-Air Systems Technology Conference, AIAA 2009-2869, 2009, Seattle, Washington, US.Google Scholar
4. Wang, X. and Shan, X. Airship attitude tracking system, Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2006, 27, (7), pp 919-926.Google Scholar
5. Acosta, D.M. and Joshi, S.S. Adaptive nonlinear dynamic inversion control of an autonomous airship for the exploration of Titan, AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit, AIAA 2007-6502, 2007, Hilton Head, South Carolina, US.Google Scholar
6. Krstic, M., Kanellakopoulos, I. and Kokotovic, P.V. Nonlinear and Adaptive Control Design, 1995, Wiley Press, New York, New York, US.Google Scholar
7. Sonneveldt, L., Van Oort, E.R., Chu, Q.P. et al. Nonlinear adaptive trajectory control applied to an F-16 model, J Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2009, 32, (1), pp 25-39.Google Scholar
8. Zhang, C., Chen, Z.J. and Wei, C. Sliding mode disturbance observer-based backstepping control for a transport aircraft, Science China, Information Science, 2014, 57, (5), pp 1-16.Google Scholar
9. Fossen, T.I. Handbook of Marine Craft Hydrodynamics and Motion Control, 2011, Wiley Press, United Kingdom, pp 457-484.Google Scholar
10. Hygounenc, E. and Soueres, P. Automatic airship control involving backstepping techniques, IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, vol. 6, 2006, Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia, pp 1-6.Google Scholar
11. Azinheira, J.R., Moutinho, A. and De Paiva, E.C. Airship hover stabilization using a backstepping control approach, J Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2006, 29, (4), pp 903-914.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Azinheira, J.R., Moutinho, A. and de Paiva, E.C. A backstepping controller for path-tracking of an underactuated autonomous airship, Int J Robust and Nonlinear, 2009, 19, (4), pp 418-441.Google Scholar
13. Lee, S., Lee, H., Won, D. et al. Backstepping approach of trajectory tracking control for the mid-altitude unmanned airship, AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit, AIAA 2007-6319, 2007, Hilton Head, South Carolina, US.Google Scholar
14. Yang, Y., Wu, J. and Zheng, W. Station-keeping control for a stratospheric airship platform via fuzzy adaptive backstepping approach, Advances in Space Research, 2013, 51, (7), pp 1157-1167.Google Scholar
15. Moutinho, A., Moutinho, A., de Paiva, E.C. and Bueno, S. Airship robust path tracking: A tutorial on airship modeling and gain scheduling control design, Control Engineering Practice, 2016, 50, pp 22-36.Google Scholar
16. Zheng, Z., Huo, W. and Wu, Z. Trajectory tracking control for underactuated stratospheric airship, Advances in Space Research, 2012, 50, (7), pp 906-917.Google Scholar
17. Liu, S.Q., Lu, J.G. and Jing, Z.L. Trajectory linearization based output tracking control of an unmanned tandem helicopter with variance constraints, Int J Control, Automation, and Systems, 2010, 8, (6), pp 1257-1270.Google Scholar
18. Repoulias, F. and Papadopoulos, E. Robotic airship trajectory tracking control using a backstepping methodology, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2008, Pasadena, California, US, pp 188-193.Google Scholar
19. Zheng, Z. and Wu, Z. Global path following control for underactuated stratospheric airship, Advances in Space Research, 2013, 52, (7), pp 1384-1395.Google Scholar
20. Daskiran, O. and Dogan, A. Airship control using expert demonstrations, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, AIAA 2016-3239, 2016, Washington, DC, US, pp 1-28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21. Liesk, T., Nahon, M. and Boulet, B. Design and experimental validation of a nonlinear low-level controller for an unmanned fin-less airship, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 2013, 21, (1), pp 149-161.Google Scholar
22. Harkegard, O. Efficient active set algorithms for solving constrained least squares problems in aircraft control allocation, IEEE Proceedings of the 41st IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, vol. 2, 2002, Las Vegas, Nevada, US, pp 1295-1300.Google Scholar
23. Liesk, T., Nahon, M. and Boulet, B. Design and experimental validation of a controller suite for an autonomous finless airship, American Control Conference, Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, 2012, Montreal, Canada, pp 2491-2496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24. Mueller, J.B., Paluszek, M.A. and Zhao, Y. Development of an aerodynamic model and control law design for a high altitudeairship, AIAA 3rd Workshop and Exhibit of “Unmanned Unlimited” Technical Conference, 2004, AIAA 2004-6479, Chicago, Illinois, US.Google Scholar
25. Sebbane, Y.B. Lighter than Air Robots: Guidance and Control of Autonomous Airships, 2011, Springer Press, Netherlands, pp 7-35.Google Scholar
26. Gomes, S.B.V. An investigation into the flight dynamics of airships with application to the YEZ-2A. Dissertation for the Doctoral Degree, 1990, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK.Google Scholar
27. Gates, D.J. Nonlinear path following method. J Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2010, 33, (2), pp 321-332.Google Scholar
28. Khalil, H.K. Nonlinear Systems, 3rded. 2002, Prentice Hall Press, New Jersey, US, pp 154.Google Scholar
29. Liu, S.Q., Li, Y.X. and Jin, H.B. Robust model predictive control for a stratospheric airship using LPV techniques. Int J Robust and Nonlinear Control, 2017, pp 1-25 (to be published).Google Scholar