Trajectory optimization and control of stratospheric airship in cruising

Abstract

Stratospheric airships are important platforms for near-space enduring cruising capability for several applications. Since energy shortage is one of major limiting factors in stratospheric airship, it is crucial to develop novel methods to reduce the requirement on energy systems. In this article, optimal trajectory of stratospheric airship in gradient wind fields is investigated in order to reduce energy consumption. First, polynomial expressions for wind gradients are assumed, and three-dimensional point mass airship equations of motion are used. Then the variety characters of energy for stratospheric airship are studied, the minimum power output of power system is taken as the optimizing target, and collocation approach is used to convert the trajectory optimization problem into parameters optimization. The characters of stratospheric airship’s cruising in three typical wind field are analyzed, including control and state parameters time histories, power changes for airship system, and so on. This research work shows that the greater the wind gradient, the more favorable to reduce energy consumptions, but the speed of the gradient wind cannot be too high.

Variational Method-Based Trajectory Optimization for Hybrid Airships

“…Sridhar et al [21] calculate the cruising aircraft wind-optimal trajectory, avoiding regions of airspace that facilitate persistent contrail formation by solving a nonlinear optimal control problem. While the trajectory optimization of traditional airships generally aims to achieve energy circulation during the cruising state by considering gradient wind fields and diurnal energy variations in a small-scale range, Zhu et al [22] studied the optimal closed trajectory for a stratospheric airship's cruising in near-space via a collocation approach in three typical wind fields. Based on the aforementioned reasons, there is currently limited research on trajectory optimization for hybrid airships.…”

Study on the Fast Search Planning Problem of Lost Targets for Maritime Emergency Response Based on an Improved Adaptive Immunogenetic Algorithm

“…The goal was to quickly locate the target by efficiently scheduling available resources to optimize the allocation of search assets and trajectory planning. This allocation scheme is particularly suited for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], robots [ 4 ], airships [ 5 ], and other reconnaissance resources whose trajectories can be planned. However, the use of manned resources in search missions is constrained by manpower, speed, and endurance.…”

Optimal Tracking Control for Underactuated Airship

“…Linear quadratic regulator (LQR) and LQT are optimal control techniques developed on the concept of calculus of variations to compute the best control gains to achieve the optimal solution of the required cost function. These controllers are widely used for tracking various trajectories for airship missions [20,21,22,23].…”