Nonlinear Predictive Path Following Control for a Stratospheric Airship

A novel planar path following control strategy for a stratospheric airship is presented based on velocity allocation and an improved nonlinear predictive control approach containing control energy optimization. Firstly, the airship system equations is obtained from simplified planar kinematic and dynamic equations. Secondly, based on the position error equation and mixing velocity allocation, the desired forward speed and yaw angle speed is deduced. Thirdly, a nonlinear predictive control method with energy optimization improvement is utilized to design controller for tracking the desired speeds, and stability of the closed loop is also analyzed. Finally, simulation results for circle path following show the effectiveness of proposed method and its capability to reduce control energy.