Model Predictive Control for Path Tracking of a VTOL Tailsitter UAV in an HIL Simulation Environment (original) (raw)
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In this paper a model predictive control is used to solve the path tracking problem of a tiltrotor unmanned aerial vehicle. The MPC controller is based on the linear error model of a tilt-rotor and the linearization is performed around a generic trajectory. The non-linear system is obtained via Euler-Lagrange formulation, taking into account eight degrees of freedom of the vehicle. The control action is calculated via an optimization problem where a cost function is solved with input and output constraints. To prove the effectiveness of the controller some simulations are carried out, considering constant disturbances at different instants of time, and modeling error. Keywords— Tilt-rotor UAV, MPC, Aerial Robotics,Path Tracking Resumo— Neste artigo um controlador preditivo baseado em modelo é utilizado para resolver o problema de seguimento de trajetória de um véıculo aéreo não tripulado. O controlador MPC se baseia no modelo do erro de um VANT tilt-rotor obtido através da lineariza...
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In this article a model predictive control (MPC) strategy for the trajectory tracking of an unmanned quadrotor is presented. The quadrotor's dynamics are modeled using a hybrid systems approach and, specifically, a set of piecewise affine (PWA) systems around different operating points of the translational and rotational motions. The proposed control scheme is dual and consists of an integral MPC for the translational motions, followed by an MPC scheme for the tracking of the quadrotor's attitude motions. By the utilization of PWA representations, the controller is computed for a larger part of the quadrotor's flight envelope, which provides more control authority for aggressive maneuvering. The proposed dual control scheme is able to calculate optimal control actions with robustness against atmospheric disturbances (e.g. wind gusts) and with respect to the physical constraints of the quadrotor (e.g. maximum lifting forces or fixed thrust limitations in order to extend flight endurance). Extended simulation studies indicate the efficiency of the MPC scheme, both in trajectory tracking and aerodynamic disturbance attenuation.
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A control strategy for fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is proposed and relies on the combination of linear model predictive control laws for the attitude dynamics of the system, along with an implementation of the L 1-navigation logic that provides attitude reference commands to achieve precise path tracking. The employed predictive controllers ensure the performance characteristics of the critical attitude loops, while respecting the actuation limitations of the platform along with safety considerations encoded as state constraints. Being explicitly computed, these strategies are computationally lightweight and allow for seamless integration on the onboard avionics. Once the desired attitude response characteristics are achieved, tuning the cascaded nonlinear L 1-navigation law becomes straightforward as lateral acceleration references can be precisely tracked. A wide set of experiments was conducted in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed strategies. As shown high quality tracking results are achieved.
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22nd Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation, 2014
A control strategy for fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is proposed and relies on the combination of linear model predictive control laws for the attitude dynamics of the system, along with an implementation of the L 1-navigation logic that provides attitude reference commands to achieve precise path tracking. The employed predictive controllers ensure the performance characteristics of the critical attitude loops, while respecting the actuation limitations of the platform along with safety considerations encoded as state constraints. Being explicitly computed, these strategies are computationally lightweight and allow for seamless integration on the onboard avionics. Once the desired attitude response characteristics are achieved, tuning the cascaded nonlinear L 1-navigation law becomes straightforward as lateral acceleration references can be precisely tracked. A wide set of experiments was conducted in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed strategies. As shown high quality tracking results are achieved.
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Chinese Journal of Aeronautics, 2020
Designing a stable and robust flight control system for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an arduous task. This paper addresses the trajectory tracking control problem of a Ducted Fan UAV (DFUAV) using offset-free Model Predictive Control (MPC) technique in the presence of various uncertainties and external disturbances. The designed strategy aims to ensure adequate flight robustness and stability while overcoming the effects of time delays, parametric uncertainties, and disturbances. The six degrees of freedom DFUAV model is divided into three flight modes based on its airspeed, namely the hover, transition, and cruise mode. The Dryden wind turbulence is applied to the DFUAV in the linear and angular velocity component. Moreover, different uncertainties such as parametric, time delays in state and input, are introduced in translational and rotational components. From the previous work, the Linear Quadratic Tracker with Integrator (LQTI) is used for comparison to corroborate the performance of the designed controller. Simulations are computed to investigate the control performance for the aforementioned modes and different flight phases including the autonomous flight to validate the performance of the designed strategy. Finally, discussions are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the given methodology.