A Sliding Mode Approach to Vector Field Path Following for a Fixed-Wing UAV

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has recently experienced increasing development, leading to the creation of a wide variety of autonomous solutions. In this paper, a guidance strategy for straight and orbital paths following fixed-wing small UAVs is presented. The proposed guidance algorithm...

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Main Authors: Luca Pugi, Lorenzo Franchi, Samuele Favilli, Giuseppe Mattei
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Robotics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/14/1/7
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author Luca Pugi
Lorenzo Franchi
Samuele Favilli
Giuseppe Mattei
author_facet Luca Pugi
Lorenzo Franchi
Samuele Favilli
Giuseppe Mattei
author_sort Luca Pugi
collection DOAJ
description Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has recently experienced increasing development, leading to the creation of a wide variety of autonomous solutions. In this paper, a guidance strategy for straight and orbital paths following fixed-wing small UAVs is presented. The proposed guidance algorithm is based on a reference vector field as desired, with 16 courses for the UAV to follow. A sliding mode approach is implemented to improve the robustness and effectiveness, and the asymptotic convergence of the aircraft to the desired trajectory in the presence of constant wind disturbances is proved according to Lyapunov. The algorithm exploits the banking dynamics and generates reference signals for the inner-loop aileron control. A MATLAB&Simulink<sup>®</sup> simulation environment is used to verify the performance and robustness of the compared guidance algorithms. This high-fidelity model considers the six-degrees-of-freedom (DoF) whole-flight dynamics of the UAV and it is based on experimental flight test data to implement the aerodynamic behavior.
format Article
id doaj-art-15f75c8beb42421e8f6b714cea9e2338
institution Kabale University
issn 2218-6581
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Robotics
spelling doaj-art-15f75c8beb42421e8f6b714cea9e23382025-01-24T13:48:23ZengMDPI AGRobotics2218-65812025-01-01141710.3390/robotics14010007A Sliding Mode Approach to Vector Field Path Following for a Fixed-Wing UAVLuca Pugi0Lorenzo Franchi1Samuele Favilli2Giuseppe Mattei3Department of Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Firenze, 50139 Firenze, ItalySky Eye Systems SRL, 56021 Cascina, ItalyDepartment of Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Firenze, 50139 Firenze, ItalyDepartment of Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Firenze, 50139 Firenze, ItalyUnmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has recently experienced increasing development, leading to the creation of a wide variety of autonomous solutions. In this paper, a guidance strategy for straight and orbital paths following fixed-wing small UAVs is presented. The proposed guidance algorithm is based on a reference vector field as desired, with 16 courses for the UAV to follow. A sliding mode approach is implemented to improve the robustness and effectiveness, and the asymptotic convergence of the aircraft to the desired trajectory in the presence of constant wind disturbances is proved according to Lyapunov. The algorithm exploits the banking dynamics and generates reference signals for the inner-loop aileron control. A MATLAB&Simulink<sup>®</sup> simulation environment is used to verify the performance and robustness of the compared guidance algorithms. This high-fidelity model considers the six-degrees-of-freedom (DoF) whole-flight dynamics of the UAV and it is based on experimental flight test data to implement the aerodynamic behavior.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/14/1/7UAVwaypointspath followinglateral guidancevector fieldsliding mode
spellingShingle Luca Pugi
Lorenzo Franchi
Samuele Favilli
Giuseppe Mattei
A Sliding Mode Approach to Vector Field Path Following for a Fixed-Wing UAV
Robotics
UAV
waypoints
path following
lateral guidance
vector field
sliding mode
title A Sliding Mode Approach to Vector Field Path Following for a Fixed-Wing UAV
title_full A Sliding Mode Approach to Vector Field Path Following for a Fixed-Wing UAV
title_fullStr A Sliding Mode Approach to Vector Field Path Following for a Fixed-Wing UAV
title_full_unstemmed A Sliding Mode Approach to Vector Field Path Following for a Fixed-Wing UAV
title_short A Sliding Mode Approach to Vector Field Path Following for a Fixed-Wing UAV
title_sort sliding mode approach to vector field path following for a fixed wing uav
topic UAV
waypoints
path following
lateral guidance
vector field
sliding mode
url https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/14/1/7
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