Sliding Mode Observer(SMO)Based Adaptive Backstepping Control for a Multi-Vectored Propeller Airship[1]

This paper proposes a path following method for a sensorless(assume the angular velocity and velocity sensors are destroyed)airship (which has four vectored thrusts)by using SMO-based adaptive backstepping approach. Firstly, the nonlinear dynamics and kinematics model are introduced. Regard the aerodynamic coefficient vector as the system uncertainty, a SMO is proposed to estimate the airship's (angular)velocity based on the above-mentioned models. Then, a path following controller is designed, which consists of two modules: an adaptive-based module and a backstepping control module. The adaptive-based module is used to estimate the uncertainty of the system, while the backstepping control module calculates a control law to realize the path following. Simulation results for the multi-vectored propeller airship are carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.