Guidance algorithm for smooth trajectory tracking of a fixed wing UAV flying in wind flows

Hector Garcia de Marina (1) , Yuri A Kapitanyuk (2) , Murat Bronz (1, 3) , Gautier Hattenberger (1, 3) , Ming Cao (2)

1 ENAC - Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile
2 University of Groningen [Groningen]
3 DRONES - ENAC - Programme transverse Drones

This paper presents an algorithm for solving the problem of tracking smooth curves by a fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle travelling with a constant airspeed and under a constant wind disturbance. The algorithm is based on the idea of following a guiding vector field which is constructed from the implicit function that describes the desired (possibly time-varying) trajectory. The output of the algorithm can be directly expressed in terms of the bank angle of the UAV in order to achieve coordinated turns. Furthermore, the algorithm can be tuned offline such that physical constrain of the UAV, e.g. the maximum bank angle, will not be violated in a neighborhood of the desired trajectory. We provide the corresponding theoretical convergence analysis and performance results from actual flights.

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Hector Garcia de Marina, Yuri A Kapitanyuk, Murat Bronz, Gautier Hattenberger, Ming Cao. Guidance algorithm for smooth trajectory tracking of a fixed wing UAV flying in wind flows. ICRA 2017, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation ,, May 2017, Singapour, Singapore. pp. 5740 - 5745, ⟨10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989674⟩. ⟨hal-01382526⟩