Optimal Energy Utilization for a Solar-Powered Aircraft Using Sliding-Mode-Based Attitude Control

In this article, an energy optimal dynamic attitude for a solar-powered aircraft is determined and implemented using the finite-time sliding-mode approach. A nonlinear constrained optimization technique has been considered to determine the optimal attitude of the aircraft for given a geographical lo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on aerospace and electronic systems 2021-02, Vol.57 (1), p.105-118
Main Authors: Dwivedi, Vijay Shankar, Salahudden, Giri, Dipak K., Ghosh, Ajoy Kanti, Kamath, G. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerodynamic forces
Aerodynamics
Aircraft
Aircraft control
Attitude control
Batteries
Computational fluid dynamics
Constrained optimization
Control stability
Energy utilization
Feedback control
Flight conditions
flight control
Flight tests
Geographical locations
Maraal
Nonlinearity
optimal attitude
Optimization
Optimization techniques
Photovoltaic cells
Rudders
Sideslip
Sliding mode control
Solar position
Solar powered aircraft
solar powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
Unmanned aerial vehicles
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Summary:In this article, an energy optimal dynamic attitude for a solar-powered aircraft is determined and implemented using the finite-time sliding-mode approach. A nonlinear constrained optimization technique has been considered to determine the optimal attitude of the aircraft for given a geographical location, solar position, heading direction, and other flight conditions for clear sky conditions. The optimization is performed so as to travel in the fastest possible way from one location to another location without utilizing the battery power, provided the solar energy is sufficient for the flight. The gain in the velocity due to the attitude optimization is validated with the test flight results of solar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Maraal, which demonstrate the efficacy of the approach proposed here. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is carried out to estimate aerodynamic forces acting on the aircraft at different sideslip angles. The developed aircraft dynamics incorporates the nonlinearities associated with relatively large aileron and rudder deflections. To obtain the desired attitude, a sliding-mode-based control scheme is considered. A power rate reaching law is applied to avoid chattering in the controls. Finite-time stability of the closed-loop system is discussed and it is shown that the attitude angles reach the desired values in finite time.
ISSN:0018-9251
1557-9603
DOI:10.1109/TAES.2020.3015310