Hierarchical backstepping-based control of a Gun Launched MAV in crosswinds: Theory and experiment

• Introducing and nonlinear modeling of a Gun Launched Micro Aerial Vehicle.
• Controlling the UAV with a detailed hierarchical backstepping-based approach.
• Estimating the unknown aerodynamic efforts with a specific identification structure.
• Analyzing the observer-based control closed-loop stability.
• Presenting both simulation and experimental results on a prototype.

This paper considers the problem of controlling the position and the orientation of a Gun Launched Micro Aerial Vehicle – GLMAV – despite unknown aerodynamic efforts. The proposed approach overcomes the problem of gyroscopic coupling by taking advantage from the structure of the thrust mechanism, which is made up of two counter rotating propellers. An adaptive hierarchical controller is designed, allowing the trajectory tracking and the stabilization of the vehicle's position and orientation while the unknown aerodynamic efforts are estimated by means of an identifier. The overall process is shown to be stable for constant, or slowly time varying, aerodynamic efforts. However numerical simulations demonstrate the satisfying controller's performance even with nonconstant aerodynamic efforts. Experimental results are also provided.