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Robot 2015: Second Iberian Robotics Conference pp 623–634Cite as

A Predictive Path-Following Approach for Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Presence of Wind Disturbances

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Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 417))

Abstract

In this paper we address the path-following problem for fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in presence of wind disturbances. Given a desired path with a specified airspeed profile assigned on it, the goal is to follow the desired maneuver while minimizing the control effort. We propose a predictive path following control scheme based on trajectory optimization techniques, to compute feasible UAV trajectories, combined with a sample-data Model Predictive Control (MPC) approach, to handle the wind field. By explicitly addressing the wind field, the UAV exploits the surrounding environment thus extending its capabilities in executing the desired maneuver. We provide numerical computations based on straight line and circular paths under various wind conditions. The computations allow us to highlight the benefits of the proposed control scheme.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Systems and Technologies (SYSTEC), Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), and Institute for Systems and Robotic (ISR), 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    Alessandro Rucco, A. Pedro Aguiar, Fernando Lobo Pereira & João Borges de Sousa

Authors
  1. Alessandro Rucco
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  2. A. Pedro Aguiar
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  3. Fernando Lobo Pereira
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  4. João Borges de Sousa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandro Rucco .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Info Syst Dept;Campus de Azurém, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

    Luís Paulo Reis

  2. Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    António Paulo Moreira

  3. Instituto Superior Tecnico - Torre Norte, University of Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

    Pedro U. Lima

  4. Engineering Dept., E. Ada Byron, Univ of Zaragoza, Computer & Systems, Zaragoza, Spain

    Luis Montano

  5. Automatic Control and Systems Eng. Dept., University of Malaga, Superior Technical, Málaga, Spain

    Victor Muñoz-Martinez

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Rucco, A., Aguiar, A.P., Pereira, F.L., de Sousa, J.B. (2016). A Predictive Path-Following Approach for Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Presence of Wind Disturbances. In: Reis, L., Moreira, A., Lima, P., Montano, L., Muñoz-Martinez, V. (eds) Robot 2015: Second Iberian Robotics Conference. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 417. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27146-0_48

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27146-0_48

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-27145-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-27146-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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