Fast nonlinear model predictive planner and control for an unmanned ground vehicle in the presence of disturbances and dynamic obstacles

This paper presents a solution for the tracking control problem, for an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), under the presence of skid-slip and external disturbances in an environment with static and moving obstacles. To achieve the proposed task, we have used a path-planner which is based on fast nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC); the planner generates feasible trajectories for the kinematic and dynamic controllers to drive the vehicle safely to the goal location. Additionally, the NMPC deals with dynamic and static obstacles in the environment. A kinematic controller (KC) is designed using evolutionary programming (EP), which tunes the gains of the KC. The velocity commands, generated by KC, are then fed to a dynamic controller, which jointly operates with a nonlinear disturbance observer (NDO) to prevent the effects of perturbations. Furthermore, pseudo priority queues (PPQ) based Dijkstra algorithm is combined with NMPC to propose optimal path to perform map-based practical simulation. Finally, simulation based experiments are performed to verify the technique. Results suggest that the proposed method can accurately work, in real-time under limited processing resources.

Antidisturbance Control for Helicopter Stochastic Systems

In this paper, an antidisturbance controller is presented for helicopter stochastic systems under disturbances. To enhance the antidisturbance abilities, the nonlinear disturbance observer method is applied to reject the time-varying disturbances. Then, the antidisturbance nonlinear controller is designed by combining the backstepping control scheme. And the stochastic theory is used to guarantee that the closed-loop system is asymptotically bounded in mean square while the proposed control method is shown via some traditional nonlinear control techniques, which still show some common issues such as “dimension explosion” or others. The result of this paper can be regarded as a typical case of the nonlinear control method to help and promote the generation of advanced methods.

Research on control technology of tip-tilt mirror system in adaptive optics

In order to solve the control problem of the tip-tilt mirror under the unknown disturbance, a nonlinear disturbance observer with adaptive ability based on the sliding mode control is designed.Firstly, the sliding mode control method of the tip-tilt mirror system is established with Lyapunov functions. Secondly, an adaptive nonlinear disturbance observer is developed on a basis of observer model. Finally, the proposed sliding mode control method is combined with a nonlinear observer with adaptive capability to achieve the goal of improving the control accuracy of the system, while also reducing the chattering caused by the system. The experiment proves that this method is achievable. The experimental results show that the tracking error of the azimuth axis is reduced from 1.637μrad to 1.083μrad, and the accuracy is improved by about 51.2%. The tracking error of the pitch axis is reduced from 1.966μrad to 1.614μrad, and the accuracy is improved by about 21.8%. This method can greatly weaken the inherent chattering and external disturbance of the system, and improve the stability of the tip-tilt mirror system.

Robust Discrete-Time Nonlinear Attitude Stabilization of a Quadrotor UAV Subject to Time-Varying Disturbances

A discrete-time improved input/output linearization controller based on a nonlinear disturbance observer is considered to secure the stability of a four-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle under constant and time-varying disturbances, as well as uncertain system parameters for its attitude behaviour. Due to the nature of the quadrotor system, it contains the most extreme high level of nonlinearities, system parameter uncertainties (perturbations), and it has to cope with external disturbances that change over time. In this context, an offset-less tracking for the quadrotor system is provided with the input/output linearization controller together with a discrete-time pre-controller. In addition, the robustness of the system is increased with a discrete-time nonlinear disturbance observer for time-varying disturbances affecting the system. The main contribution of this study is to provide highly nonlinearities cancellation to guarantee the aircraft attitude stability and to propose a robust control structure in discrete-time, considering all uncertainties. Various simulation studies have been carried out to illustrate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed controller structure.