Dynamics modeling and control of a transport aircraft for ultra-low altitude airdrop

The nonlinear aircraft model with heavy cargo moving inside is derived by using the separation body method, which can describe the influence of the moving cargo on the aircraft attitude and altitude accurately. Furthermore, the nonlinear system is decoupled and linearized through the input–output feedback linearization method. On this basis, an iterative quasi-sliding mode(SM)flight controller for speed and pitch angle control is proposed. At the first-level SM, a global dynamic switching function is introduced thus eliminating the reaching phase of the sliding motion.At the second-level SM, a nonlinear function with the property of ‘‘smaller errors correspond to bigger gains and bigger errors correspond to saturated gains' ' is designed to form an integral sliding manifold, and the overcompensation of the integral term to big errors is weakened. Lyapunovbased analysis shows that the controller with strong robustness can reject both constant and time-varying model uncertainties. The performance of the proposed control strategy is verified in a maximum load airdrop mission.     

Sliding mode control of reaction flywheel-based brushless DC motor with buck converter

Reaction flywheel is a significant actuator for satellites’ attitude control. To improve output torque and rotational speed accuracy for reaction flywheel, this paper reviews the modeling and control approaches of DC-DC converters and presents an application of the variable structure system theory with associated sliding regimes. Firstly, the topology of reaction flywheel is constructed. The small signal linearization process for a buck converter is illustrated. Then, based on the state averaging models and reaching qualification expressed by the Lee derivative, the general results of the sliding mode control (SMC) are analyzed. The analytical equivalent control laws for reaction flywheel are deduced detailedly by selecting various sliding surfaces at electromotion, energy consumption braking, reverse connection braking stages. Finally, numerical and experimental examples are presented for illustrative purposes. The results demonstrate that favorable agreement is established between the simulations and experiments. The proposed control strategy achieves preferable rotational speed regulation, strong rejection of modest disturbances, and high-precision output torque and rotational speed tracking abilities.     

Three-dimensional guidance law based on adaptive integral sliding mode control

For the terminal guidance problem of missiles intercepting maneuvering targets in the three-dimensional space, the design of guidance laws for non-decoupling three-dimensional engage-ment geometry is studied. Firstly, by introducing a finite time integral sliding mode manifold, a novel guidance law based on the integral sliding mode control is presented with the target acceler-ation as a known bounded external disturbance. Then, an improved adaptive guidance law based on the integral sliding mode control without the information of the upper bound on the target accel-eration is developed, where the upper bound of the target acceleration is estimated online by a designed adaptive law. The both presented guidance laws can make sure that the elevation angular rate of the line-of-sight and the azimuth angular rate of the line-of-sight converge to zero in finite time. In the end, the results of the guidance performance for the proposed guidance laws are pre-sented by numerical simulations. Although the designed guidance laws are developed for the con-stant speed missiles, the simulation results for the time-varying speed missiles are also shown to further confirm the designed guidance laws.     

Sliding mode tracking control for miniature unmanned helicopters

A sliding mode control design for a miniature unmanned helicopter is presented. The control objective is to let the helicopter track some predefined velocity and yaw trajectories. A new sliding mode control design method is developed based on a linearized dynamic model. In order to facilitate the control design, the helicopter’s dynamic model is divided into two subsystems,such as the longitudinal-lateral and the heading-heave subsystem. The proposed controller employs sliding mode control technique to compensate for the immeasurable flapping angles’ dynamic effects and external disturbances. The global asymptotic stability(GAS) of the closed-loop system is proved by the Lyapunov based stability analysis. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the proposed controller can achieve superior tracking performance compared with the proportionalintegral-derivative(PID) and linear-quadratic regulator(LQR) cascaded controller in the presence of wind gust disturbances.     

Fuzzy adaptive robust control for space robot considering the effect of the gravity

Space robot is assembled and tested in gravity environment, and completes on-orbit service（OOS） in microgravity environment. The kinematic and dynamic characteristic of the robot will change with the variations of gravity in different working condition. Fully considering the change of kinematic and dynamic models caused by the change of gravity environment, a fuzzy adaptive robust control（FARC） strategy which is adaptive to these model variations is put forward for trajectory tracking control of space robot. A fuzzy algorithm is employed to approximate the nonlinear uncertainties in the model, adaptive laws of the parameters are constructed, and the approximation error is compensated by using a robust control algorithm. The stability of the control system is guaranteed based on the Lyapunov theory and the trajectory tracking control simulation is performed. The simulation results are compared with the proportional plus derivative（PD） controller, and the effectiveness to achieve better trajectory tracking performance under different gravity environment without changing the control parameters and the advantage of the proposed controller are verified.     

Adaptive fuzzy terminal sliding mode control for the free-floating space manipulator with free-swinging joint failure

Space manipulator with free-swinging joint failure simultaneously contains kinematic and dynamic coupling relationships, so it belongs to a new underactuated system. To allow the manipulator to carry on tasks, an effective robust underactuated control method for the space manipulator with free-swinging joint failure is studied in this paper. Considering the effect of model uncertainty and joint torque disturbance, a robust underactuated control system based on the Terminal Sliding Mode Controller (TSMC) is designed, but two drawbacks are discussed: (A) Robustness depraves with eliminating chattering. (B) Control parameters are difficult to be determined under unknown uncertainty and disturbance. To improve the TSMC, the adaptive fuzzy controller is introduced to estimate the real effect of unknown uncertainty and disturbance according to deviations of sliding mode and its reaching law. The estimated result is directly compensated into active joints torque. In simulation, the space manipulator with free-swinging joint executes tasks based on the TSMC and the Adaptive Fuzzy Terminal Sliding Mode Controller (AFTSMC) respectively. Same tasks can be finished with smaller joints torque and stronger robustness based on the AFTSMC. Therefore, AFTSMC can serve as an effective robust control method for the space manipulator with free-swinging joint failure under unknown model uncertainty and torque disturbance.     

Observer-based control for the platform of a tethered space robot

This paper addresses the attitude control problem of a space tethered robot platform in the presence of unknown external disturbance caused by a connecting elastic tether. The tether-generated unknown disturbance leads to tremendous challenges for attitude control of the platform. In this work, the perturbed attitude dynamics of the platform are derived with a consideration of the libration of the elastic tether, and then with the purpose of compensating the unknown disturbance, major attention is dedicated to develop a nonlinear disturbance observer based on gyros measurements, after which, an adaptive attitude scheme is proposed by combining the disturbance observer with a sliding mode controller. Finally, benefits from the observer based on an adaptive controller are validated by series of numerical simulations.     

Capture and detumbling control for active debris removal by a dual-arm space robot

Active debris removal (ADR) technology is an effective approach to remediate the proliferation of space debris, which seriously threatens the operational safety of orbital spacecraft. This study aims to design a controller for a dual-arm space robot to capture tumbling debris, including capture control and detumbling control. Typical space debris is considered as a non-cooperative target, which has no specific capture points and unknown dynamic parameters. Compliant clamping control and the adaptive backstepping-based prescribed trajectory tracking control (PTTC) method are proposed in this paper. First, the differential geometry theory is utilized to establish the constraint equations, the dynamic model of the chaser-target system is obtained by applying the Hamilton variational principle, and the compliance clamping controller is further designed to capture the non-cooperative target without contact force feedback. Next, in the post-capture phase, an adaptive backstepping-based PTTC is proposed to detumble the combined spacecraft in the presence of model uncertainties. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to validate the feasibility of the proposed capture and detumbling control method. Simulation results indicate that the target detumbling achieved by the PTTC method can reduce propellant consumption by up to 24.11%.     

Backstepping design of missile guidance and control based on adaptive fuzzy sliding mode control

This paper presents an integrated missile guidance and control law based on adaptive fuzzy sliding mode control. The integrated model is formulated as a block-strict-feedback nonlinear system, in which modeling errors, unmodeled nonlinearities, target maneuvers, etc. are viewed as unknown uncertainties. The adaptive nonlinear control law is designed based on backstepping and sliding mode control techniques. An adaptive fuzzy system is adopted to approximate the coupling nonlinear functions of the system, and for the uncertainties, we utilize an online-adaptive control law to estimate the unknown parameters. The stability analysis of the closed-loop system is also conducted. Simulation results show that, with the application of the adaptive fuzzy sliding mode control, small miss distances and smooth missile trajectories are achieved, and the system is robust against system uncertainties and external disturbances.     

基于自适应反演滑模的末制导律设计

针对三维导弹-目标相对运动模型,结合反演控制、滑模控制和自适应技术,设计了一种新的自适应反演滑模末制导律。针对目标机动加速度上界难以获取的问题,将目标机动加速度视作模型的干扰,设计了一种自适应律对其进行在线估计,并将估计值补偿到制导律中。运用李亚普诺夫稳定性理论证明了系统的全局渐进稳定性和误差的收敛性。仿真结果证明了所设计的自适应反演滑模末制导律对机动目标的鲁棒性和有效性。     

Finite-time sliding mode attitude control for a reentry vehicle with blended aerodynamic surfaces and a reaction control system

This paper proposes a finite-time robust flight controller, targeting for a reentry vehicle with blended aerodynamic surfaces and a reaction control system(RCS). Firstly, a novel finite-time attitude controller is pointed out with the introduction of a nonsingular finite-time sliding mode manifold. The attitude tracking errors are mathematically proved to converge to zero within finite time which can be estimated. In order to improve the performance, a second-order finite-time sliding mode controller is further developed to effectively alleviate chattering without any deterioration of robustness and accuracy. Moreover, an optimization control allocation algorithm, using linear programming and a pulse-width pulse-frequency(PWPF) modulator, is designed to allocate torque commands for all the aerodynamic surface deflections and on–off switching-states of RCS thrusters.Simulations are provided for the reentry vehicle considering uncertain parameters and external disturbances for practical purposes, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the attitude control system.     

自适应二阶动态terminal滑模在近空间飞行器控制中的应用

为克服滑模抖振,设计了二阶动态terminal滑模,得到在时间本质上连续的控制器,并使滑模面在有限时间内收敛.然后采用非线性干扰观测器逼近复合干扰,通过在控制器中设置自适应补偿项,放宽了非线性干扰观测器的假设条件,不再要求复合干扰变化率为零.基于李雅普诺夫理论,严格证明了系统稳定性.最后将提出的控制方案应用于近空间飞行器姿态角跟踪仿真实验,仿真结果表明了该控制方案的有效性及优越性.      

Adaptive sliding mode control for limit protection of aircraft engines

In practice, some sensors of aircraft engines naturally fail to obtain an acceptable measurement for control propose, which will severely degrade the system performance and even deactivate the limit protection function. This paper proposes an adaptive strategy for the limit protection task under unreliable measurement. With the help of a nominal system, an online estimator with gradient adaption law and low-pass filter is devised to evaluate output uncertainty. Based on the estimation result, a sliding mode controller is designed by defining a sliding surface and deriving a control law. Using Lyapunov theorem, the stability of the online estimator and the closed-loop system is detailedly proven. Simulations based on a reliable turbofan model are presented, which verify the stability and effectiveness of the proposed method. Simulation results show that the online estimator can operate against the measurement noise, and the sliding controller can keep relevant outputs within their limits despite slow-response sensors.