Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Trajectory Tracking Algorithms Comparison

Brenton K. Wilburn; Mario G. Perhinschi; Hever Moncayo; Ondrej Karas; Jennifer N. Wilburn

doi:10.1108/IJIUS-05-2013-0018

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Trajectory Tracking Algorithms Comparison

Brenton K. Wilburn, Mario G. Perhinschi, Hever Moncayo, Ondrej Karas, Jennifer N. Wilburn

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

<div class="line" id="line-25"> Purpose</div><div class="line" id="line-103"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-106"> – The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the performance of several different UAV trajectory tracking algorithms in normal and abnormal flight conditions to investigate the fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities of a novel immunity&hyphen;based adaptive mechanism.</div><div class="line" id="line-111"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-114"> Design/methodology/approach</div><div class="line" id="line-116"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-119"> – The evaluation of these algorithms is performed using the West Virginia University (WVU) UAV simulation environment. Three types of fixed&hyphen;parameter algorithms are considered as well as their adaptive versions obtained by adding an immunity&hyphen;based mechanism. The types of control laws investigated are: position proportional, integral, and derivative control, outer&hyphen;loop nonlinear dynamic inversion (NLDI), and extended NLDI. Actuator failures on the three channels and increased turbulence conditions are considered for several different flight paths. Specific and global performance metrics are defined based on trajectory tracking errors and control surface activity.</div><div class="line" id="line-124"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-127"> Findings</div><div class="line" id="line-129"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-132"> – The performance of all of the adaptive controllers proves to be better than their fixed parameter counterparts during the presence of a failure in all cases considered.</div><div class="line" id="line-137"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-140"> Research limitations/implications</div><div class="line" id="line-142"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-145"> – The immunity inspired adaptation mechanism has promising potential to enhance the fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities of autonomous flight control algorithms and the extension of its use at all levels within the control laws considered and in conjunction with other control architectures is worth investigating.</div><div class="line" id="line-150"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-153"> Practical implications</div><div class="line" id="line-155"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-158"> – The WVU UAV simulation environment has been proved to be a valuable tool for autonomous flight algorithm development, testing, and evaluation in normal and abnormal flight conditions.</div><div class="line" id="line-163"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-166"> Originality/value</div><div class="line" id="line-168"> <br/></div><div class="line" id="line-171"> – A novel adaptation mechanism is investigated for UAV control algorithms with fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities. The issue of fault tolerance of UAV control laws has only been addressed in a limited manner in the literature, although it becomes critical in the context of imminent integration of UAVs within the commercial airspace.</div><div class="line" id="line-173"> <br/></div>

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	276-302
Number of pages	27
Journal	International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems
Volume	1
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1108/IJIUS-05-2013-0018 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJIUS-05-2013-0018
State	Published - Jul 29 2013
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Modeling and Simulation
Automotive Engineering
Economics and Econometrics
Mechanical Engineering

Keywords

UAV
Trajectory tracking
Adaptive control
Fault tolerant control
Flight
Trajectories
Flight control

Disciplines

Aeronautical Vehicles
Systems Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization

Access to Document

10.1108/IJIUS-05-2013-0018License: Unspecified
10.1108/IJIUS-05-2013-0018

Cite this

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title = "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Trajectory Tracking Algorithms Comparison",

abstract = " Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the performance of several different UAV trajectory tracking algorithms in normal and abnormal flight conditions to investigate the fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities of a novel immunity&hyphen;based adaptive mechanism. Design/methodology/approach – The evaluation of these algorithms is performed using the West Virginia University (WVU) UAV simulation environment. Three types of fixed&hyphen;parameter algorithms are considered as well as their adaptive versions obtained by adding an immunity&hyphen;based mechanism. The types of control laws investigated are: position proportional, integral, and derivative control, outer&hyphen;loop nonlinear dynamic inversion (NLDI), and extended NLDI. Actuator failures on the three channels and increased turbulence conditions are considered for several different flight paths. Specific and global performance metrics are defined based on trajectory tracking errors and control surface activity. Findings – The performance of all of the adaptive controllers proves to be better than their fixed parameter counterparts during the presence of a failure in all cases considered. Research limitations/implications – The immunity inspired adaptation mechanism has promising potential to enhance the fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities of autonomous flight control algorithms and the extension of its use at all levels within the control laws considered and in conjunction with other control architectures is worth investigating. Practical implications – The WVU UAV simulation environment has been proved to be a valuable tool for autonomous flight algorithm development, testing, and evaluation in normal and abnormal flight conditions. Originality/value – A novel adaptation mechanism is investigated for UAV control algorithms with fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities. The issue of fault tolerance of UAV control laws has only been addressed in a limited manner in the literature, although it becomes critical in the context of imminent integration of UAVs within the commercial airspace. ",

keywords = "UAV, Trajectory tracking, Adaptive control, Fault tolerant control, Flight, Trajectories, Flight control",

author = "Wilburn, {Brenton K.} and Perhinschi, {Mario G.} and Hever Moncayo and Ondrej Karas and Wilburn, {Jennifer N.}",

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year = "2013",

month = jul,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1108/IJIUS-05-2013-0018",

language = "American English",

volume = "1",

pages = "276--302",

journal = "International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems",

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AU - Wilburn, Brenton K.

AU - Perhinschi, Mario G.

AU - Moncayo, Hever

AU - Karas, Ondrej

AU - Wilburn, Jennifer N.

N1 - The date on your computer is in the past. If your computer's clock shows a date before 1 Jan 1970, the browser will automatically forget the cookie. To fix this, set the correct time and date on your computer.

PY - 2013/7/29

Y1 - 2013/7/29

N2 - Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the performance of several different UAV trajectory tracking algorithms in normal and abnormal flight conditions to investigate the fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities of a novel immunity&hyphen;based adaptive mechanism. Design/methodology/approach – The evaluation of these algorithms is performed using the West Virginia University (WVU) UAV simulation environment. Three types of fixed&hyphen;parameter algorithms are considered as well as their adaptive versions obtained by adding an immunity&hyphen;based mechanism. The types of control laws investigated are: position proportional, integral, and derivative control, outer&hyphen;loop nonlinear dynamic inversion (NLDI), and extended NLDI. Actuator failures on the three channels and increased turbulence conditions are considered for several different flight paths. Specific and global performance metrics are defined based on trajectory tracking errors and control surface activity. Findings – The performance of all of the adaptive controllers proves to be better than their fixed parameter counterparts during the presence of a failure in all cases considered. Research limitations/implications – The immunity inspired adaptation mechanism has promising potential to enhance the fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities of autonomous flight control algorithms and the extension of its use at all levels within the control laws considered and in conjunction with other control architectures is worth investigating. Practical implications – The WVU UAV simulation environment has been proved to be a valuable tool for autonomous flight algorithm development, testing, and evaluation in normal and abnormal flight conditions. Originality/value – A novel adaptation mechanism is investigated for UAV control algorithms with fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities. The issue of fault tolerance of UAV control laws has only been addressed in a limited manner in the literature, although it becomes critical in the context of imminent integration of UAVs within the commercial airspace.

AB - Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the performance of several different UAV trajectory tracking algorithms in normal and abnormal flight conditions to investigate the fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities of a novel immunity&hyphen;based adaptive mechanism. Design/methodology/approach – The evaluation of these algorithms is performed using the West Virginia University (WVU) UAV simulation environment. Three types of fixed&hyphen;parameter algorithms are considered as well as their adaptive versions obtained by adding an immunity&hyphen;based mechanism. The types of control laws investigated are: position proportional, integral, and derivative control, outer&hyphen;loop nonlinear dynamic inversion (NLDI), and extended NLDI. Actuator failures on the three channels and increased turbulence conditions are considered for several different flight paths. Specific and global performance metrics are defined based on trajectory tracking errors and control surface activity. Findings – The performance of all of the adaptive controllers proves to be better than their fixed parameter counterparts during the presence of a failure in all cases considered. Research limitations/implications – The immunity inspired adaptation mechanism has promising potential to enhance the fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities of autonomous flight control algorithms and the extension of its use at all levels within the control laws considered and in conjunction with other control architectures is worth investigating. Practical implications – The WVU UAV simulation environment has been proved to be a valuable tool for autonomous flight algorithm development, testing, and evaluation in normal and abnormal flight conditions. Originality/value – A novel adaptation mechanism is investigated for UAV control algorithms with fault&hyphen;tolerant capabilities. The issue of fault tolerance of UAV control laws has only been addressed in a limited manner in the literature, although it becomes critical in the context of imminent integration of UAVs within the commercial airspace.

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KW - Trajectory tracking

KW - Adaptive control

KW - Fault tolerant control

KW - Flight

KW - Trajectories

KW - Flight control

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U2 - 10.1108/IJIUS-05-2013-0018

DO - 10.1108/IJIUS-05-2013-0018

M3 - Article

SN - 2049-6427

VL - 1

SP - 276

EP - 302

JO - International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems

JF - International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems

IS - 3

ER -

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Trajectory Tracking Algorithms Comparison

Abstract

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Keywords

Disciplines

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