A problem statement and an approach for automatic control of UAV landing maneuver in strong crosswind

Аuthors

Lebedev G. N.^*, Eliseev V. D., Ivashova N. D.^**

State Research Institute Engineeringpace University, 125, prospekt Mira, Moscow, 129226, Russia

*e-mail: kaf301@mai.ru
**e-mail: nati2405@mail.ru

Abstract

This paper focuses on the problem of automatic landing of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on a runway in the presence of a strong crosswind.
This paper is suggesting the following landing procedure: an airplane deviates from the initial flight path adopting a course opposite to the wind direction from a given position, so as to minimize the lateral speed of the airplane relative to the ground from a certain ground proximity level, the rudder being used to align heading starting from the bank removal moment and through all the subsequent manoevers.
Ailerons and rudder linear and relay control laws are formulated, then a controller logic is devised, using both linear and relay controllers, for the task of monitoring the degree of coherence of the lateral and the longitudinal control channels.
In this work a new method of automatic landing was introduced. The landing maneuver is split in three parts. In the first part, the aircraft is following a precalculated path with an offset from the initial path. In the second part, the UAV follows a glidepath while performing bank control. During this stage, the lateral speed is nonzero and the course is directed towards the wind. In the third part, the bank deviation is eliminated by rudder control.
It should be noted that, for better accuracy, an adjustment for the wind value may be added to the control system, therefore complicating the controller structure, which is a suitable topic for a future work.
The paper suggests a new landing procedure, which may be of interest in the field of research in automatic control.

Keywords:

unmanned aerial vehicle, landing, optimal control, crosswind, maneuver

References

1. Bellman R. Dinamicheskoe programmirovanie (Dynamic programming), Moscow, IIL, 1960, 400 p.
2. Letov A.M. Dinamika poleta i upravleniya (Flight dynamics and control), Moscow, Nauka, 1969, 360 p.
3. Pontryagin L.S., Boltyanskii V.G., Gamkrelidze R.V., Mishchenko E.F. Matematicheskaya teoriya optimal’nykh protsessov (Mathematical Theory of Optimal Processes), Moscow, Nauka, 1983, 393 p.
4. Lebedev G.N., Efimov A.V. Vestnik Samarskogo gosudarstvennogo aerokosmicheskogo universiteta, 2011, no. 6, pp. 222-229.

Download