Constrained docking control for shipborne UAV SideArm recovery

In this work,we sought to investigate constrained docking control during shipborne SideArm recovery of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV)under preassigned safe docking constraints,rough ocean environments,and different initial positions.The aim was to solve the UAV tracking-lag problem that manifests when attempting to dock with a rapidly moving SideArm and to improve the accuracy and rapidity of docking.First,together with the formulations of the shipborne SideArm system and environmental airflows,the affine nonlinear dynamics of the hook was established to reduce tracking lag.Then,echo state network approximators with good approximation capacity and low computational consumption were designed to accurately approximate the UAV’s unknown nonlinear dynamics.With feedforward compensation provided by these approximators,a nonlinear-mapping-based constrained docking control law was developed for shipborne SideArm recovery of UAVs.This approach to controlling the docking trajectory and the forward docking speed of the UAV can achieve rapid and exact docking with a moving SideArm,without violating the preassigned safe docking-constraint envelopes.Simulations under different docking scenarios were used to validate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed docking-control algorithm.

Docking control for probe-drogue refueling: An additive-state-decomposition-based output feedback iterative learning control method

Designing a controller for the docking maneuver in Probe-Drogue Refueling(PDR) is an important but challenging task, due to the complex system model and the high precision requirement.In order to overcome the disadvantage of only feedback control, a feedforward control scheme known as Iterative Learning Control(ILC) is adopted in this paper.First, Additive State Decomposition(ASD) is used to address the tight coupling of input saturation, nonlinearity and the property of Non Minimum Phase(NMP) by separating these features into two subsystems(a primary system and a secondary system).After system decomposition, an adjoint-type ILC is applied to the Linear Time-Invariant(LTI) primary system with NMP to achieve entire output trajectory tracking, whereas state feedback is used to stabilize the secondary system with input saturation.The two controllers designed for the two subsystems can be combined to achieve the original control goal of the PDR system.Furthermore, to compensate for the receiverindependent uncertainties, a correction action is proposed by using the terminal docking error,which can lead to a smaller docking error at the docking moment.Simulation tests have been carried out to demonstrate the performance of the proposed control method, which has some advantages over the traditional derivative-type ILC and adjoint-type ILC in the docking control of PDR.

Dynamics and nonlinear control of space electromagnetic docking

Space electromagnetic docking technology, free of propellant and plume contamination, offers continuous, reversible and synchronous controllability, which is widely applied in the future routine on-orbit servicing missions. Due to the inherent nonlinearities, couplings and uncertainties of an electromagnetic force model, the dynamics and control problems of them are difficult. A new modeling approach for relative motion dynamics with intersatellite force is proposed. To resolve these control problems better, a novel nonlinear control method for soft space electro-magnetic docking is proposed, which combines merits of artificial potential function method, Lyapunov theory and extended state observer. In addition, the angular momentum management problem of space electromagnetic docking and approaches of handling it by exploiting the Earth＇s magnetic torque are investigated. Finally, nonlinear simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of the dynamic model and the novel nonlinear control method.

Underwater docking of an under-actuated autonomous underwater vehicle:system design and control implementation

Underwater docking greatly facilitates and extends operation of an autonomous underwater vehicle(AUV) without the support of a surface vessel. Robust and accurate control is critically important for docking an AUV into a small underwater funneltype dock station. In this paper, a docking system with an under-actuated AUV is presented, with special attention paid to control algorithm design and implementation. For an under-actuated AUV, the cross-track error can be controlled only via vehicle heading modulation, so both the cross-track error and heading error have to be constrained to achieve successful docking operations, while the control problem can be even more complicated in practical scenarios with the presence of unknown ocean currents. To cope with the above issues, a control scheme of a three-hierarchy structure of control loops is developed, which has been embedded with online current estimator/compensator and effective control parameter tuning. The current estimator can evaluate both horizontal and vertical current velocity components, based only on the measurement of AUV's velocity relative to the ground; in contrast, most existing methods use the measurements of both AUV's velocities respectively relative to the ground and the water column. In addition to numerical simulation, the proposed docking scheme is fully implemented in a prototype AUV using MOOS-IvP architecture. Simulation results show that the current estimator/compensator works well even in the presence of lateral current disturbance. Finally, a series of sea trials are conducted to validate the current estimator/compensator and the whole docking system. The sea trial results show that our control methods can drive the AUV into the dock station effectively and robustly.