Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Control

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Vertical Take-Off And Landing Control Via Dual-Quaternions And Sliding Mode, Joshua Sonderegger Apr 2022

Vertical Take-Off And Landing Control Via Dual-Quaternions And Sliding Mode, Joshua Sonderegger

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The landing and reusability of space vehicles is one of the driving forces into renewed interest in space utilization. For missions to planetary surfaces, this soft landing has been most commonly accomplished with parachutes. However, in spite of their simplicity, they are susceptible to parachute drift. This parachute drift makes it very difficult to predict where the vehicle will land, especially in a dense and windy atmosphere such as Earth. Instead, recent focus has been put into developing a powered landing through gimbaled thrust. This gimbaled thrust output is dependent on robust path planning and controls algorithms. Being able to …


Stochastic Model Predictive Control Via Fixed Structure Policies, Elias Wilson Apr 2022

Stochastic Model Predictive Control Via Fixed Structure Policies, Elias Wilson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

In this work, the model predictive control problem is extended to include not only open-loop control sequences but also state-feedback control laws by directly optimizing parameters of a control policy. Additionally, continuous cost functions are developed to allow training of the control policy in making discrete decisions, which is typically done with model-free learning algorithms. This general control policy encompasses a wide class of functions and allows the optimization to occur both online and offline while adding robustness to unmodelled dynamics and outside disturbances. General formulations regarding nonlinear discrete-time dynamics and abstract cost functions are formed for both deterministic and …


Quadrotor Swarm Arena (Quasar) Development Of A Swarm Control Testbed, Shane T. Stebler, William Mackunis Aug 2018

Quadrotor Swarm Arena (Quasar) Development Of A Swarm Control Testbed, Shane T. Stebler, William Mackunis

Beyond: Undergraduate Research Journal

Swarm control systems are increasingly popular in the robotics industry and academia due to their many potential applications. The goal of the Quadrotor Swarm Arena (QuaSAr) project is to construct a quadrotor swarm control testbed to provide researchers with the tools needed to experimentally investigate this emerging science. This testbed is equipped with a motion capture system, test control station, and numerous quadrotor UAVs. MATLAB-Simulink is utilized for control law development, data processing, and test control. This configuration allows researchers to test developing control law in a 'plug and play' manner as control development and test control are all completed …


Dynamics And Control Of Higher-Order Nonholonomic Systems, Jaime Rubio HerváS Jan 2013

Dynamics And Control Of Higher-Order Nonholonomic Systems, Jaime Rubio HerváS

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

A theoretical framework is established for the control of higher-order nonholonomic systems, defined as systems that satisfy higher-order nonintegrable constraints. A model for such systems is developed in terms of differential-algebraic equations defined on a higher-order tangent bundle. A number of control-theoretic properties such as nonintegrability, controllability, and stabilizability are presented. Higher-order nonholonomic systems are shown to be strongly accessible and, under certain conditions, small time locally controllable at any equilibrium. There are important examples of higher-order nonholonomic systems that are asymptotically stabilizable via smooth feedback, including space vehicles with multiple slosh modes and Prismatic-Prismatic-Revolute (PPR) robots moving open liquid …