Design of nonlinear controllers and speed and angular position estimator for an electrically controlled cycloidal propeller

Abstract

The current research focuses on the design and stability analysis of nonlinear controllers for an electrically driven marine cycloidal propeller, along with estimating propeller disc rotational speed, blade pitch angle, hydrodynamic torque, and thrust using the Extended Kalman Filter. The nonlinear controllers comprise a Lyapunov-based feedback controller for the propeller disc and six Backstepping controllers for the propeller blades. All states and control architecture are defined using an efficient, physics-based, electrically controlled marine cycloidal propeller model. The controller is being investigated to evaluate its ability to accurately receive, process, and respond to multiple control signals. The Monte Carlo simulation technique assesses the robustness of the developed controller and the proposed estimator. A validation investigation is performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed nonlinear controllers. The proposed control system is straightforward to implement for a wide range of applications, including marine cycloidal propellers and cyclorotor-driven unmanned vehicles.