[논문 리뷰] Integrated Flight and Propulsion Control for Fixed-Wing UAVs via Thrust and Disturbance Compensation

Chongyi Sun, Heling Yuan외 3명|arXiv (Cornell University)|2026. 02. 26.

Adaptive Control of Nonlinear Systems인용 수 0

한 줄 요약

이 논문은 fixed-wing UAVs with turbojet engines를 위한 추력 미측정성과 교란에도 불구하고 원하는 궤적에 대한 asymptotic position-tracking을 달성하기 위해 extended disturbance observer를 사용하는 계층적 통합 비행 및 추진 제어 스킴을 제시한다.

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the position-tracking control problem for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with a turbojet engine via an integrated flight and propulsion control scheme. To this end, a hierarchical control framework with thrust and disturbance compensation is proposed. In particular, we first propose a perturbed fixed-wing UAV model with turbojet engine dynamics, accounting for both unmodeled dynamics and external disturbances. Second, a versatile extended observer is designed to handle both unmeasurable thrust dynamics and external disturbances. Third, a hierarchical control framework is implemented using three observer-based controllers to guarantee position-tracking performance. With the proposed control strategy, we prove that the closed-loop system asymptotically converges to the desired trajectory. Finally, a comparative simulation is performed to illustrate the proposed control strategy.

연구 동기 및 목표

• Address the nonlinearities and propulsion dynamics in fixed-wing UAVs with turbojet engines to improve position-tracking performance.
• Develop a perturbed integrated model that includes turbojet dynamics, unmodeled dynamics, and disturbances.
• Design an extended disturbance observer to estimate external disturbances and unmeasurable thrust.
• Propose a three-layer observer-based control framework to guarantee asymptotic convergence to the desired trajectory.

제안 방법

• Model the fixed-wing UAV and turbojet engine with propulsion dynamics and aerodynamic forces.
• Introduce an extended disturbance observer to estimate disturbances and unmeasured thrust.
• Implement a hierarchical control framework with three observer-based controllers for position, flight direction, and airspeed.
• Prove asymptotic convergence of the closed-loop system to the desired trajectory using a cascade stability argument.
• Decompose the model into position, airspeed, and flight-direction subsystems for controller design.

실험 결과

연구 질문

• RQ1 Can an integrated flight and propulsion control framework with thrust and disturbance compensation achieve accurate 3D position tracking for fixed-wing UAVs with turbojet engines?
• RQ2 How can an extended disturbance observer be designed to handle unmeasurable thrust and external disturbances within a hierarchical control structure?
• RQ3 What are the stability guarantees (asymptotic convergence) for the proposed cascade control framework?
• RQ4 How do the three observer-based controllers (motion state planner, flight direction controller, airspeed controller) interact to ensure robust tracking?

주요 결과

• The proposed framework yields asymptotic convergence of the fixed-wing UAV to the desired position trajectory.
• An extended disturbance observer is designed to estimate external disturbances and unmeasured thrust and is shown to be asymptotically stable.
• A hierarchical control structure with three observer-based controllers guarantees position-tracking performance under propulsion dynamics.
• The model integrates turbojet dynamics with flight dynamics, addressing propulsion-induced effects neglected in simpler models.
• Stability analysis relies on cascade system arguments to ensure overall convergence to the target trajectory.