Trajectory Generation and Tracking Control for Flapping Wing Robot Three-Dimensional Flight

Abstract

This article presents both the trajectory generation and tracking control strategies for an underactuated flapping wing aerial vehicle (FWAV). First, the FWAV dynamics is analyzed in a practical perspective. Then, based on these analyzes, we demonstrate the differential flatness of the FWAV system, and develop a general-purpose trajectory generation strategy. Subsequently, the trajectory tracking controller is developed with the help of robust control and switch control techniques. After that, the overall system asymptotic stability is guaranteed by Lyapunov stability analysis. To make the controller applicable in real flight, we also provide several instructions. Finally, a series of experiment results manifest the successful implementation of the proposed trajectory generation strategy and tracking control strategy. Addressing the dynamics in the vertical frame has been demonstrated to be advantageous in accomplishing the trajectory generation task. And in the controller development, we associate the reduced attitude with the outer loop dynamics, and finally achieve the global practical asymptotic stability for the overall tracking system. This work first achieves the closed-loop integration of trajectory generation and control for real 3-D flight of an underactuated FWAV to a practical level.