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Design and Experimental Validation of a Robust Output Feedback Control for the Coupled Dynamics of a Micro Air Vehicle

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Abstract

This paper addresses the design and experimental validation of a linear robust static output feedback controller for a 150 mm span fixed wing micro air vehicle (MAV). Severe coupling between longitudinal and lateral dynamics of the MAV lead to the design of a multivariable controller for the combined dynamics. The control design problem is posed in the framework of static output feedback (SOF) due to the inexpensive computational requirements for implementation. The multiobjective control design problem including stability requirements, closed loop damping ratio requirements and H∞ norm minimization is solved using the hybrid technique of linear matrix inequalities (LMI) and genetic algorithm (GA). The design is carried out in the discrete time domain, facilitating in direct implementation of the multivariable controller in the onboard autopilot hardware. The robustness of the resulting closed loop system under parametric uncertainties is evaluated using structured singular value analysis. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is demonstrated through outdoor flight trial of the micro air vehicle with a customized lightweight autopilot hardware.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Kandath Harikumar

  2. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

    Sidhant Dhall & Seetharama Bhat

Authors
  1. Kandath Harikumar
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  2. Sidhant Dhall
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  3. Seetharama Bhat
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kandath Harikumar.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Kyoungchul Kong under the direction of Editor Jessie (Ju H.) Park. The authors would like to thank NPMICAV program for the partial funding of the work. The authors would like to extend their sincere gratitude to all of the lab members of MAVLAB IISc Bangalore, for their help and feedback.

Kandath Harikumar is currently a research fellow at the School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), India. He had worked as a research fellow at the school of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore from July 2016 to June 2018. He was a research assistant at faculty of science and technology, University of Macau from Jan 2016 to March 2016. He had worked as assistant systems engineer at Tata Consultancy Services from Sep 2008 to Dec 2009. His research interests are applications of control theory to unmanned systems and flight dynamics.

Sidhant Dhall has worked as a Research Associate at Indian Institute of Science, India. He has received his bachelor degree in Electronics and Instrumentation from SRM University, India. His research interests are design of instrumentation and control hardware for satellites and unmanned aircraft.

Seetharama Bhat received the B.Sc. degree from the Mysore University, Karnataka, India, in 1972, and the B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, in 1975, 1977, and 1982, respectively. He is a Professor with the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science. His research interests include guidance and control of aerospace vehicles, dynamics, and control of smart structures and estimation techniques.

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Harikumar, K., Dhall, S. & Bhat, S. Design and Experimental Validation of a Robust Output Feedback Control for the Coupled Dynamics of a Micro Air Vehicle. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 17, 155–167 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-017-0799-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-017-0799-2

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