Adaptive Discrete-Time Sliding Mode Control Applied to the Pitch Motion of a Micro Air Vehicle with Flapping Wings

Abstract

A robust Adaptive Discrete-time Sliding Mode Controller (ADSMC) is formulated, and is applied to control the pitch motion of a simulated Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicle (FWMAV). There is great potential for FWMAVs to be used as aerial tools to assist with gathering data and surveying environments. Thanks to modern manufacturing and technology, along with an increased comprehension behind the aerodynamics of wing flaps, these vehicles are now a reality, though not without limitations. Given their diminutive size, FWMAVs are susceptible to real-world disturbances, such as wind gusts, and are sensitive to particular variations in their build quality. While external forces such as wind gusts can be reasonably bounded, the unknown variations in the state may be difficult to characterize or bound without affecting performance. To address these problems, an ADSMC is developed. First, the FWMAV model is converted from continuous-time to discrete-time. Second, an ADSMC for the newly discretized FWMAV model is developed. Using this controller, the trajectory tracking performance of the FWMAV is assessed against a traditional discrete sliding mode controller, and is found to have a decreased chattering frequency and decreased control effort for the same task. Therefore, the ADSMC is assessed as the superior controller, despite being completely unaware of the model parameters or wind gust.