Tracking controllers in various navigation planes of an unmanned aerial blimp
Abstract
This paper studies the tracking control problem in various navigation planes of an unmanned aerial vehicle of blimp type. The coupled dynamic equations of the blimp including the kinematics are distributed into the blimp's three geometric planes. The navigation control inputs take into account the effect of the added matrix extra-diagonal terms which are resulting from the non-coincidence of the buoyancy and the gravity centres. With respect to the two geometrical planes, we prove that the dynamic of the blimp is flat and flatness based tracking controller is suggested. The backstepping technique is followed in the horizontal plane to ensure the tracking of the blimp's trimmed flight. Simulations are presented to confirm the effectiveness of the tracking control schemes including drag forces.