Lift-Augmentation Aware Backstepping Control for an Underactuated Bird-Scale Flapping Wing Vehicle

초록

In this letter, we aim to design a nonlinear controller to achieve altitude tracking and pitch stabilization for a class of underactuated nonlinear systems, namely, bird-scale flapping-wing vehicles (BFWVs) with a single actuator. The major challenge lies in the underactuated nonlinear system dynamics and the dependency of lift generation on forward translational velocity. In this letter, a lift-augmentation-aware reduced-order model for a class of BFWV incapable of hovering is introduced with an emphasis on the sagittal plane (body YZ plane) dynamics. A feasible fixed point for altitude control of the underactuated system is studied, and a Lyapunov-based switching controller is developed to force the states to stabilize at the desired altitude. We demonstrate its effectiveness in both numerical simulations and closed-loop indoor experiments and address the challenges of controlling the underactuated BFWV.

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