A Generalized Predictive Control-Based Path Following Method for Parafoil Systems in Wind Environments

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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Date
2019-03-18
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
42586-42595
Series
IEEE Access, Volume 7
Abstract
Parafoil systems represent flexible wing vehicles. In case a vehicle is flying at low altitude, it is well known that the vehicle is more susceptible to winds. Also, due to the nonlinear, large inertial existing within the system, traditional control methods, such as traditional proportional-integral-derivative (PID), cannot guarantee the quality of path following. Therefore, we here apply generalized predictive control (GPC)-based method for parafoil systems to follow the designed path for a better control effect. To achieve this, we first propose a novel modeling method based on computational fluid dynamics to build a dynamic model of the parafoil system in windy environments. Afterward, a guidance law is designed according to a hybrid approach that combines the cross track error and the line of sight. In addition, the path following controller is established by using GPC. Finally, we generate and interpret numerical results to demonstrate the feasibility of the horizontal path following method in windy environments by utilizing the semi-physical simulation platform. The achieved results show that the GPC controller achieves high precision path following. More precisely, it possesses a better anti-wind ability and tracking accuracy and, therefore, the method outperforms PID controller.
Description
Keywords
automatic control, modelling, parafoil systems, wind environment, computational fluid dynamics, path following control, generalized predictive control
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Citation
Tao , J , Dehmer , M , Xie , G & Zhou , Q 2019 , ' A Generalized Predictive Control-Based Path Following Method for Parafoil Systems in Wind Environments ' , IEEE Access , vol. 7 , 6287639 , pp. 42586-42595 . https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2905632