Multi-circular formation control with reinforced transient profiles for nonholonomic vehicles:A path-following framework

This article investigates a multi-circular path-following formation control with reinforced transient profiles for nonholonomic vehicles connected by a digraph.A multi-circular formation controller endowed with the feature of spatial-temporal decoupling is devised for a group of vehicles guided by a virtual leader evolving along an implicit path,which allows for a circumnavigation on multiple circles with an anticipant angular spacing.In addition,notice that it typically imposes a stringent time constraint on time-sensitive enclosing scenarios,hence an improved prescribed performance control(IPPC)using novel tighter behavior boundaries is presented to enhance transient capabilities with an ensured appointed-time convergence free from any overshoots.The significant merits are that coordinated circumnavigation along different circles can be realized via executing geometric and dynamic assignments independently with modified transient profiles.Furthermore,all variables existing in the entire system are analyzed to be convergent.Simulation and experimental results are provided to validate the utility of suggested solution.

A Novel Prescribed-Performance Path-Following Problem for Non-Holonomic Vehicles

The issue of achieving prescribed-performance path following in robotics is addressed in this paper,where the aim is to ensure that a desired path within a specified region is accu-rately converged to by the controlled vehicle.In this context,a novel form of the prescribed performance guiding vector field is introduced,accompanied by a prescribed-time sliding mode con-trol approach.Furthermore,the interdependence among the pre-scribed parameters is discussed.To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method,numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the approach.

Finite-Time Sideslip Differentiator-Based LOS Guidance for Robust Path Following of Snake Robots

This paper presents a finite-time sideslip differentiator-based line-of-sight(LOS)guidance method for robust path following of snake robots.Firstly,finite-time stable sideslip differentiator and adaptive LOS guidance method are proposed to counteract sideslip drift caused by cross-track velocity.The proposed differentiator can accurately observe the cross-track error and sideslip angle for snake robots to avoid errors caused by calculating sideslip angle approximately.In our method,the designed piecewise auxiliary function guarantees the finite-time stability of position errors.Secondly,for the case of external disturbances and state constraints,a Barrier Lyapunov functionbased backstepping adaptive path following controller is presented to improve the robot’s robustness.The uniform ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system is proved by analyzing stability.Additionally,a gait frequency adjustment-based virtual velocity control input is derived to achieve the exponential convergence of the tangential velocity.At last,the availability and superiority of this work are shown through simulation and experiment results.

Constrained Moving Path Following Control for UAV With Robust Control Barrier Function

This paper studies the moving path following(MPF)problem for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)under output constraints and wind disturbances.The vehicle is required to converge to a reference path moving with respect to the inertial frame,while the path following error is not expected to violate the predefined boundaries.Differently from existing moving path following guidance laws,the proposed method removes complex geometric transformation by formulating the moving path following problem into a second-order time-varying control problem.A nominal moving path following guidance law is designed with disturbances and their derivatives estimated by high-order disturbance observers.To guarantee that the path following error will not exceed the prescribed bounds,a robust control barrier function is developed and incorporated into controller design with quadratic program based framework.The proposed method does not require the initial position of the UAV to be within predefined boundaries.And the safety margin concept makes error-constraint be respected even if in a noisy environment.The proposed guidance law is validated through numerical simulations of shipboard landing and hardware-in-theloop(HIL)experiments.

LSTM-DPPO based deep reinforcement learning controller for path following optimization of unmanned surface vehicle

To solve the path following control problem for unmanned surface vehicles(USVs),a control method based on deep reinforcement learning(DRL)with long short-term memory(LSTM)networks is proposed.A distributed proximal policy opti-mization(DPPO)algorithm,which is a modified actor-critic-based type of reinforcement learning algorithm,is adapted to improve the controller performance in repeated trials.The LSTM network structure is introduced to solve the strong temporal cor-relation USV control problem.In addition,a specially designed path dataset,including straight and curved paths,is established to simulate various sailing scenarios so that the reinforcement learning controller can obtain as much handling experience as possible.Extensive numerical simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method has better control performance under missions involving complex maneuvers than trained with limited scenarios and can potentially be applied in practice.

Kinematics and Path Following Control of an Articulated Drum Roller

Automatic navigation of an articulated drum roller, which is an articulated steering type vehicle widely used in the construction industry, is highly expected for operation cost reduction and improvement of work effi- ciency. In order to achieve the path following control, considering that its steering system is articulated steering and two frames are articulated by an active revolute joint, a kinematic model and an error dynamic state-space equation of an articulated drum roller are proposed. Besides, a state- feedback control law based on Lyapunov stability theory is also designed, which can be proved to achieve the purpose of control by the analysis of stability. What＇s more, to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, simu- lation under the MATLAB/Simulink and experiments using positioning algorithm and errors correction at the uneven construction site are performed, with initial dis- placement error （-1.5 m）, heading error （-0.11 tad） and steering angle （-0.19 rad）. Finally, simulation and exper- imental results show that the errors and steering angle can decrease gradually, and converge to zero with time. Meanwhile, the control input is not saturated. An articu- lated drum roller can lock into a desired path with the proposed method in uneven fields.

Path Following Control of A Deep-Sea Manned Submersible Based upon NTSM

In this paper, a robust path following control law is proposed for a deep-sea manned submersible maneuvering along a predeterminated path. Developed in China, the submersible is underactuated in the horizontal plane in that it is actuated by two perpendicular thrusts in this plane. The advanced non-singular terminal sliding mode （NTSM） is implemented for the design of the path following controller, which can ensure the convergence of the motion system in finite time and improve its robustness against parametric uncertainties and environmental disturbances. In the process of controller design, the close-loop stability is considered and proved by Lyapunov＇ s stability theory. With the experimental data, numerical simulations are provided to verify the control law for path following of the deep-sea manned submersible.

Adaptive sliding-mode path following control system of the underactuated USV under the influence of ocean currents

The path-following control of the asymmetry underactuated unmanned surface vehicle(USV) under external disturbances such as unknown constant and irrational ocean currents is discussed, and an adaptive sliding-mode path-following control system is proposed, which comprises a path-variable updated law,a modified integral line-of-sight(ILOS) guidance law based on a time-varying lookahead distance and adaptive feedback linearizing controllers combined with sliding-mode technique. A more accurate USV model without the assumption of having diagonal inertia and damping matrices is first presented, aiming at improving the performance of the path-following control. Next, the coordinate transformation is adopted to decouple the sway dynamic from the rudder angle, and the path-following errors dynamics without non-singular problem are presented in the moving Frenet-Serret frame. Then, based on the cascaded theorem and the adaptive sliding-mode method, the adaptive control law of position errors and course error are designed, among which the lookahead distance and integral gain are all computed as different functions of cross-track error to estimate and compensate the sideslip angle caused by external disturbances adaptively. Finally, according to the Lyapunov and cascaded theorem, the control system proposed is proved to be uniform globally asymptotic stability(UGAS) and uniform semiglobal exponential stability(USGES) when the control objectives are all achieved. Simulation results illustrate the precision and high-quality performance of this new controller.

Path following control of underactuated ships based on nonswitch analytic model predictive control

A path following controller is developed for underactuated ships with only surge force and yaw moment available to follow a predefined path.The proposed controller is based on nonswitch analytic model predictive control.It is shown that the optimal control law for a nonlinear path following system with ill-defined relative degree is continuous and nonsingular.The problem of ill-defined relative degree is solved.The path-following ability of the nonlinear system is guaranteed.Numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control law.

Adaptive back-stepping control on container ships for path following

A feedback-dominance based adaptive back-stepping(FDBAB) controller is designed to drive a container ship to follow a predefined path. In reality, current, wave and wind act on the ship and produce unwanted disturbances to the ship control system.The FDBAB controller has to compensate for such disturbances and steer the ship to track the predefined(or desired) path. The difference between the actual and the desired path along which the ship is to sail is defined as the tracking error. The FDBAB controller is built on the tracking error model which is developed based on Serret-Frenet frame transformation(SFFT). In additional to being affected by external disturbances, the ship has more outputs than inputs(under-actuated), and is inherently nonlinear.The back-stepping controller in FDBAB is used to compensate the nonlinearity. The adaptive algorithms in FDBAB is employed to approximate disturbances. Lyapunov's direct method is used to prove the stability of the control system. The FDBAB controlled system is implemented in Matlab/Simulink. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the controller in terms of successful path tracking and disturbance rejection.

PREDICTIVE CONTROL FOR OPTIMAL PATH TERRAIN FOLLOWING SYSTEM

In this paper output predictive algorithm is applied to the design of predictive controller for an optimal path terrain following system. In this way, the error of path tracking is decreased to a minimum degree simply and efficiently and the computation time for the optimal path is shortened greatly. Therefore, the real-time processing of the optimal path terrain following system is made to be very helpful.

Dynamic Path Following Control of a Ground Ackerman Steering Robot to Avoid a Collision

A novel method is proposed to dynamically control the path following of a ground Ackerman steering robot to avoid a collision.The method consists of collision prediction module,collision avoidance module and global path following module.The elliptic repulsive potential field method（ER-PFM）and the enhanced vector polar histogram method（VPH＋）based on the Ackerman steering model are proposed to predict the collision in a dynamic environment.The collision avoidance is realized by the proposed cost function and speed control law.The global path following process is achieved by pure pursuit.Experiments show that the robot can fulfill the dynamic path following task safely and efficiently using the proposed method.

Russian-Chinese economic cooperation: flat roads following a path overgrown with brambles

Russian-Chinese trade began to achieve fairly rapid development in the late 1980s. In recent years, however, bilateral trade has shown a declining trend. In 1997, the amount dropped by 10.6 percent from 1996 to US$6.12 billion. Whether in Moscow or Beijing, people distinctly realize that both sides earnestly hope to enhance cooperation on a brand-new basis. For this purpose, both governments are putting into practice longterm mutually beneficial large cooperation projects in areas of technological investment. In December 1997, the two sides signed the contract on

Wind disturbance compensated path-following control for fixed-wing UAVs in arbitrarily strong winds

Wind is the primary challenge for low-speed fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles to follow a predefined flight path.To cope with various wind conditions,this paper proposes a wind disturbance compensated path following control strategy where the wind disturbance estimate is incorporated with the nominal guiding vector field to provide the desired airspeed direction for the inner-loop.Since the control input vector for the outer-loop kinematic subsystem needs to satisfy a magnitude constraint,a scaling mechanism is introduced to tune the proportions of the compensation and nominal components.Moreover,an optimization problem is formulated to pursue a maximum wind compensation in strong winds,which can be solved analytically to yield two scaling factors.A cascaded inner-loop tracking controller is also designed to fulfill the outer-loop wind disturbance compensated guiding vector field.High-fidelity simulation results under sensor noises and realistic winds demonstrate that the proposed path following algorithm is less sensitive to sensor noises,achieves promising accuracy in normal winds,and mitigates the deviation from a desired path in wild winds.

Autopilot Control Synthesis for Path Tracking Maneuvers of Underwater Vehicles

This paper is concerned with the robust control synthesis of autonomous underwater vehicle （AUV） for general path following maneuvers. First, we present maneuvering kinematics and vehicle dynamics in a unified framework. Based on H∞ loop-shaping procedure, the 2-DOF autopilot controller has been presented to enhance stability and path tracking. By use of model reduction, the high-order control system is reduced to one with reasonable order, and further the scaled low-order controller has been analyzed in both the frequency and the time domains. Finally, it is shown that the autopilot control system provides robust performance and stability against prescribed levels of uncertainty.

Understanding Realities Africa needs to follow its own path of reform to realize its potential

It bus been 40 years since China embarked on ＂crossing the river by feel ing the stones,＂ navigating through the untrodden path and uncharted waters to drive its iconic modemization effort through reform and opening up.

Finite-time path following control of a sailboat with actuator failure and unknown sideslip angle

Suffering from actuator failure and complex sideslip angle,the motion control of a sailboat becomes challenging.In this paper,an improved double finite-time observer-based line-of-sight guidance and finite-time control(IDFLOS-FC)scheme is presented for path following of sailboats.The salient features of the proposed IDFLOS-FC scheme are as follows:(1)Considering the problem of actuator failure,an actuator failure model is introduced into the dynamics model of a sailboat.(2)The time-varying sideslip angle of the sailboat is accurately observed by the double finite-time sideslip observers(DFSOs),which reduces the error in line-of-sight(LOS)guidance.(3)A radial basis function(RBF)neural network is used to fit the uncertainty of the model,and the upper bound of the sum of fault effects and external disturbances is estimated based on adaptive theory,so that the controller has accurate tracking and interference suppression.(4)According to the Lyapunov method,the system is finite-time stable.Finally,simulation was used to validate the effectiveness of the method.

海上自主水面船舶(MASS)路径跟踪控制系统综述

A review presents the state-of-the-art path-following control systems for maritime autonomous surface ships,where the special focus is placed on the guidance subsystem and control subsystem.The path following control system is one of the basic requirements for autonomous ships since it guarantees that the ship can track the predefined path with small crosstrack errors.The path following problem is firstly defined,and the cross-track error dynamics are derived from the kinematic equations of marine surface ships.The classical guidance laws are introduced,and the governing equations are also presented in this paper.A review of the guidance laws and controllers for the maritime autonomous surface ships has been carried out based on relevant journal and conference papers.Several important properties and characteristics,such as control structure,guidance law,control method,stability,environmental disturbance and vessel dynamics,are defined for the comparative analysis.Finally,the summary and a discussion on the most used technologies for the path following control of marine autonomous surface ships are presented and highlighted.