Search results

1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 30 May 2023

Yixuan Xue, Ziyang Zhen, Zhibing Zhang, Teng Cao and Tiancai Wan

Accurate glide path tracking is vital to the automatic carrier landing task of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The purpose of this paper is to develop a reliable flight controller…

Abstract

Purpose

Accurate glide path tracking is vital to the automatic carrier landing task of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The purpose of this paper is to develop a reliable flight controller that can simultaneously deal with external disturbance, structure fault and actuator fault.

Design/methodology/approach

The automatic carrier landing task is resolved into the glide path tracking problem and attitude tracking problem. The disturbance observer-based adaptive sliding mode control scheme is proposed for system stabilization, disturbance rejection and fault tolerance.

Findings

Both the Lyapunov method and exemplary simulations can prove that the disturbance estimation error and the attitude tracking error converge in finite time in the presence of external disturbances and various faults.

Practical implications

The presented algorithm is testified by a UAV automatic carrier landing simulation, which shows the potential of practical usage.

Originality/value

The barrier function is introduced to adaptively update both the sliding mode observer gain and sliding mode controller gain, so that the sliding mode surface could converge to a predefined region without overestimation. The proposed flight controller ensures a secure carrier landing task.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 95 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 June 2021

Javad Tayebi, Chao Han and Yuanjin Yu

The purpose of this paper is agile attitude control design with the novel three-dimensional (3D) magnetically suspended wheel (MSW) that is the preferred type for agile…

83

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is agile attitude control design with the novel three-dimensional (3D) magnetically suspended wheel (MSW) that is the preferred type for agile maneuvering compared to conventional control moment gyro due to frictionless, low vibration and long lifetime. This system does not require a separate steering law for pyramid arrangement to derive tilt angles. It is also conducting an agile maneuver with high accuracy despite the high-frequency disturbances.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, a disturbance observer-based attitude stabilization method is proposed for an agile satellite with a pyramid cluster of the novel 3D magnetically suspended wheel actuator. This strategy includes a disturbance observer and a linear quadratic regulator controller. The rotor shaft deflection of MSW is actively controlled to reduce vibration and producing gyro torque. The deflection angle of the pyramid cluster MSWs considered as control parameters. The closed-loop stability is proved by using the Lyapunov strategy. The efficiency and performance of the offered method verified by numerical simulation via MATLAB/SIMULINK software.

Findings

According to simulation results, the disturbance observer-based control controller stabilized the system with high accuracy and optimal tilt angles without any extra steering law equation. Hence, the system speed is increased, and the system error is minimized without separate steering law.

Practical implications

The magnetically suspended wheel is a new kind of inertia actuator for attitude control that has several benefits such as frictionless, high-speed rotor, clean environment and low vibration compared to the traditional wheel. It has complex nonlinear dynamics that cause have complicated controller design. The proposed strategy stabilizes the system and conducting an agile maneuver with high precision despite the high-frequency disturbances. It is applicable for some missions requiring high accuracies, like Earth observation and the solar observation mission that require a very accurate pointing control and a long lifetime.

Originality/value

This paper is the initial paper to design a pyramid array for magnetically suspended wheels. Compared to other research, this method doesn’t need a separate steering law of the MSWs cluster and presented optimal tilt angles with less computational. Also, it designs a disturbance observer-based controller for this system that proposed high accuracy and agile stabilization.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 93 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 June 2021

Gulay Unal

Fault detection, isolation and reconfiguration of the flight control system is an important problem to obtain healthy flight. This paper aims to propose an integrated approach for…

Abstract

Purpose

Fault detection, isolation and reconfiguration of the flight control system is an important problem to obtain healthy flight. This paper aims to propose an integrated approach for aircraft fault-tolerant control.

Design/methodology/approach

The integrated structure includes a Kalman filter to obtain without noise, a full order observer for sensor fault detection, a GOS (generalized observer scheme) for sensor fault isolation and a fuzzy controller to reconfigure of the healthy sensor. This combination is simulated using the state space model of a lateral flight control system in case of disturbance and under sensor fault scenario.

Findings

Using a dedicated observer scheme, the detection and time of sensor fault are correct, but the sensor fault isolation is evaluated incorrectly while the faulty sensor is isolated correctly using GOS. The simulation results show that the suggested approach works affectively for sensor faults with disturbance.

Originality/value

This paper proposes an integrated approach for aircraft fault-tolerant control. Under this framework, three units are designed, one is Kalman filter for filtering and the other is GOS for sensor fault isolation and another is fuzzy logic for reconfiguration. An integrated approach is sensitive to faults that have disturbances. The simulation results show the proposed integrated approach can be used for any linear system.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 93 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 June 2021

Nigar Ahmed and Mou Chen

The purpose of this research paper is to design a disturbance observer-based control based on the robust model reference adaptive backstepping sliding-mode control for attitude…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research paper is to design a disturbance observer-based control based on the robust model reference adaptive backstepping sliding-mode control for attitude quadrotor model subject to uncertainties and disturbances.

Design/methodology/approach

To estimate and reject the disturbance, a disturbance observer is designed for the exogenous disturbances with perturbation while a control criterion is developed for the tracking of desired output. To achieve the control performance, backstepping and sliding-mode control techniques are patched together to obtain robust chattering-free controller. Furthermore, a model reference adaptive control criterion is also combined with the design of robust control for the estimation and rejection of uncertainties and unmodeled dynamics of the attitude quadrotor.

Findings

The findings of this research work includes the design of a disturbance observer-based control for uncertain attitude quadrotor system with the ability of achieving tracking control objective in the presence of nonlinear exogenous disturbance with and without perturbation.

Practical implications

In practice, the quadrotor flight is opposed by different kinds of the disturbances. In addition, being an underactuated system, it is difficult to obtain an accurate mathematical model of quadrotor for the control design. Thus, a quadrotor model with uncertainties and disturbances is inevitable. Hence, it is necessary to design a control system with the ability to achieve the control objectives in the presence of uncertainties and disturbances.

Originality/value

Designing the control methods for quadrotor control without uncertainties and disturbances is a common practice. However, investigating the uncertain quadrotor plant in the presence of nonlinear disturbances is rarely taken into consideration for the control design. Hence, this paper presents a control algorithm to address the issues of the uncertainties and disturbances as well as investigate a control algorithm to achieve tracking performance.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 93 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2024

Rui Lin, Qiguan Wang, Xin Yang and Jianwen Huo

In complex environments, a spherical robot has great application value. When the pendulum spherical robot is stopped or disturbed, there will be a periodic oscillation. This…

Abstract

Purpose

In complex environments, a spherical robot has great application value. When the pendulum spherical robot is stopped or disturbed, there will be a periodic oscillation. This situation will seriously affect the stability of the spherical robot. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a control method based on backstepping and disturbance observers for oscillation suppression.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analyzes the mechanism of oscillation. The oscillation model of the spherical robot is constructed and the relationship between the oscillation and the internal structure of the sphere is analyzed. Based on the oscillation model, the authors design the oscillation suppression control of the spherical robot using the backstepping method. At the same time, a disturbance observer is added to suppress the disturbance.

Findings

It is found that the control system based on backstepping and disturbance observer is simple and efficient for nonlinear models. Compared with the PID controller commonly used in engineering, this control method has a better control effect.

Practical implications

The proposed method can provide a reliable and effective stability scheme for spherical robots. The problem of instability in real motion is solved.

Originality/value

In this paper, the oscillation model of a spherical robot is innovatively constructed. Second, a new backstepping control method combined with a disturbance observer for the spherical robot is proposed to suppress the oscillation.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2021

Xinjian Ma, Shiqian Liu, Huihui Cheng and Weizhi Lyu

This paper aims to focus on the sensor fault-tolerant control (FTC) for civil aircraft under exterior disturbance.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on the sensor fault-tolerant control (FTC) for civil aircraft under exterior disturbance.

Design/methodology/approach

First, a three-step cubature Kalman filter (TSCKF) is designed to detect and isolate the sensor fault and to reconstruct the sensor signal. Meanwhile, a nonlinear disturbance observer (NDO) is designed for disturbance estimation. The NDO and the TSCKF are combined together and an NDO-TSCKF is proposed to solve the problem of sensor faults and bounded disturbances simultaneously. Furthermore, an FTC scheme is designed based on the nonlinear dynamic inversion (NDI) and the NDO-TSCKF.

Findings

The method is verified by a Cessna 172 aircraft model under bias gyro fault and constant angular rate disturbance. The proposed NDO-TSCKF has the ability of signal reconstruction and disturbance estimation. The proposed FTC scheme is also able to solve the sensor fault and disturbance simultaneously.

Research limitations/implications

NDO-TSCKF is the novel algorithm used in sensor signal reconstruction for aircraft. Then, disturbance observer-based FTC can improve the flight control system performances when the system with faults.

Practical implications

The NDO-TSCKF-based FTC scheme can be used to solve the sensor fault and exterior disturbance in flight control. For example, the bias gyro fault with constant angular rate disturbance of a civil aircraft is studied.

Social implications

Signal reconstruction for critical sensor faults and disturbance observer-based FTC for civil aircraft are useful in modern civil aircraft design and development.

Originality/value

This is the research paper studies on the signal reconstruction and FTC scheme for civil aircraft. The proposed NDO-TSCKF is better than the current reconstruction filter because the failed sensor signal can be reconstructed under disturbances. This control scheme has a better fault-tolerant capability for sensor faults and bounded disturbances than using regular NDI control.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 94 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 February 2019

Muhammad Taimoor, Li Aijun and Rooh ul Amin

The purpose of this paper aims to investigate an effective algorithm for different types of disturbances rejection. New dynamics are designed based on disturbance. Observer-based…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper aims to investigate an effective algorithm for different types of disturbances rejection. New dynamics are designed based on disturbance. Observer-based sliding mode control (SMC) technique is used for approximation the disturbances as well as to stabilize the system effectively in presence of uncertainties.

Design/methodology/approach

This research work investigates the disturbances rejection algorithm for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. An algorithm based on SMC is introduced for disturbances rejection. Two types of disturbances are considered, the constant disturbance and the sinusoidal disturbance. The comprehensive lateral and longitudinal models of the system are presented. Two types of dynamics, the dynamics without disturbance and the new dynamics with disturbance, are presented. An observer-based algorithm is presented for the estimation of the dynamics with disturbances. Intensive simulations and experiments have been performed; the results not only guarantee the robustness and stability of the system but the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm as well.

Findings

In previous research work, new dynamics based on disturbances rejection are not investigated in detail; in this research work both the lateral and longitudinal dynamics with different disturbances are investigated.

Practical implications

As the stability is always important for flight, so the algorithm proposed in this research guarantees the robustness and rejection of disturbances, which plays a vital role in practical life for avoiding any kind of damage.

Originality/value

In the previous research work, new dynamics based on disturbances rejection are not investigated in detail; in this research work both the lateral and longitudinal dynamics with different disturbances are investigated. An observer-based SMC not only approximates the different disturbances and also these disturbances are rejected in order to guarantee the effectiveness and robustness.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 91 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 January 2024

Xin Cai, Xiaozhou Zhu and Wen Yao

Quadrotors have been applied in various fields. However, because the quadrotor is subject to multiple disturbances, consisting of external disturbances, actuator faults and…

Abstract

Purpose

Quadrotors have been applied in various fields. However, because the quadrotor is subject to multiple disturbances, consisting of external disturbances, actuator faults and parameter uncertainties, it is difficult to control the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to achieve high-precision tracking performance. This paper aims to design a safety controller that uses observer and neural network method to improve the tracking performance of UAV under multiple disturbances. The experiments prove that this method is effective.

Design/methodology/approach

First, to actively estimate and compensate the synthetic uncertainties of the system, a finite-time extended state observer is investigated, and the disturbances are transformed into the extended state of the system for estimation. Second, an adaptive neural network controller that does not accurately require the dynamic model knowledge is designed based on the estimated value, where the weights of the neural network can be dynamically adjusted by the adaptive law. Furthermore, the finite-time bounded convergence of the proposed observer and the stability of the system are proved through homogeneous theory and Lyapunov method.

Findings

The figure-“8” climbing flight simulation and real flight experiments illustrate that the proposed safety control strategy has good tracking performance.

Originality/value

This paper proposes the safety control structure of the UAV, which combines the extended state observer with the neural network method. Numerical simulation results and actual flight experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 51 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2021

Nigar Ahmed, Abid Raza and Rameez Khan

The aim of this paper is to design a nonlinear disturbance observer-based control (DOBC) method obtained by patching a control method developed using a robust adaptive technique…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to design a nonlinear disturbance observer-based control (DOBC) method obtained by patching a control method developed using a robust adaptive technique and a DO.

Design/methodology/approach

For designing a DOBC, initially a class of nonlinear system is considered with an external disturbance. First, a DO is designed to estimate the external disturbances. This estimate is combined with the controller to reject the disturbances and obtain the desired control objective. For designing a controller, the robust sliding mode control theory is used. Furthermore, instead of using a constant switching gain, an adaptive gain tuning criterion is designed using Lyapunov candidate function. To investigate the stability and effectiveness of the developed DOBC, stability analysis and simulation study are presented.

Findings

The major findings of this paper include the criteria of designing the robust adaptive control parameters and investigating the disturbance rejection when robust adaptive control based DOBC is developed.

Practical implications

In practice, the flight of quadrotor is affected by different kind of external disturbances, thus leading to the change in dynamics. Hence, it is necessary to design DOBCs based on robust adaptive controllers such that the quadrotor model adapts to the change in dynamics, as well as nullify the effect of disturbances.

Originality/value

Designing DOBCs based on robust control method is a common practice; however, the robust adaptive control method is rarely developed. This paper contributes in the domain of DOBC based on robust adaptive control methods such that the behavior of controller varies with the change in dynamics occurring due to external disturbances.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 93 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2024

Muhammad Nabeel Siddiqui, Xiaolu Zhu, Hanad Rasool, Muhammad Bilal Afzal and Nigar Ahmed

The purpose of this paper is to design an output-feedback algorithm based on low-power observer (LPO), robust chattering-free controller and nonlinear disturbance observer (DO) to…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design an output-feedback algorithm based on low-power observer (LPO), robust chattering-free controller and nonlinear disturbance observer (DO) to achieve trajectory tracking of quadrotor in the Cartesian plane.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve trajectory tracking control, firstly the decoupled rotational and translational model of quadrotor are modified by introducing backstepped state-space variables. In the second step, robust integral sliding mode control is designed based on the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) technique. In the third step, a DO is constructed. In next step, the measurable outputs, i.e. rotational and translational state variables, are used to design the LPO. Finally, in the control algorithm all state variables and its rates are replaced with its estimates obtained using the state-observer.

Findings

The finding includes output-feedback control (OFC) algorithm designed by using a LPO. A modified backstepping model for rotational and rotational systems is developed prior to the design of integral sliding mode control based on PID technique. Unlike traditional high-gain observers (HGO), this paper used the LPO for state estimation of quadrotor systems to solve the problem of peaking phenomenon in HGO. Furthermore, a nonlinear DO is designed such that it attenuates disturbance with unknown magnitude and frequency. Moreover, a chattering reduction criterion has been introduced to solve the inherited chattering issue of controllers based on sliding mode technique.

Practical implications

This paper presents input and output data-driven model-free control algorithm. That is, only input and output of the quadrotor model are required to achieve the trajectory tracking control. Therefore, for practical implementation, the number of on-board sensor is reduced.

Originality/value

Although extensive research has been done for designing OFC algorithms for quadrotor, LPO has never been implemented for the rotational and translational state estimations of quadrotor. Furthermore, the mathematical model of rotational and translational systems is modified by using backstepped variables followed by the controller designed using PID and integral sliding mode control technique. Moreover, a DO is developed for attenuation of disturbance with unknown bound, magnitude and frequency.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 96 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000