Guidance and Control for Chase UAV via Sliding Mode Approach

This study focuses on integrated guidance and control for a chasing UAV against a maneuvering target. A sliding mode approach is selected to develop the integrated guidance and control using a full model of nonlinear, rigid body, 6 Degree-Of-Freedom equations of motion including nonlinear aerodynamics for the target-following capability and maneuverability enhancement against uncertain target maneuvers. Intermediate control variables for the integrated guidance and control system are carefully selected and approximated time derivatives of a sliding surface are applied such that a sliding surface structure is simple and sufficient to propagate the actuator input to the sliding surface in order to make the design synthesis simple. The potential of the proposed method is demonstrated and discussed with some simulation results, comparing its performance with a system where the guidance law and the controller are designed independently.