Spatial adaptive integral LOS path following control for an under-actuated stratospheric airship

Abstract

Extending the adaptive integral LOS path following method from planar to spatial, this paper presents a novel spatial path following control method for an under-actuated stratospheric airship in the presence of unknown wind. The nonlinear dynamic model of the airship is first introduced. Then, the spatial adaptive integral LOS guidance method generates the desired attitude and estimates the wind. The backstepping and Lyapunov-based techniques are adopted to track the predefined attitude and velocity. The final design of the control system consists of three parts: guidance loop, attitude control loop and velocity control loop. Stability analysis demonstrates that the closed-loop control system is ultimately bounded. Simulation results of the typical path are proposed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control method.