Trajectory tracking of powered parafoil based on characteristic model based all-coefficient adaptive control

One of the primary difficulties in using powered parafoil (PPF) systems is the lack of effective trajectory tracking controllers since the trajectory tracking control is the essential operation for PPF to accomplish autonomous tasks. The characteristic model (CM) based all-coefficient adaptive control (ACAC) designed for PPF systems in horizontal and vertical trajectory control is proposed. The method is easy to use and convenient to adjust and test. Just a few parameters are adapted during the control process. In application, vertical and horizontal CMs are designed and ACAC controllers are constructed to control vertical altitude and horizontal trajectory of PPF based on the proposed CMs, respectively. Result analysis of different simulations shows that the applied ACAC control method is effective for trajectory tracking of the PPF systems and the approach guarantees the transient performance of the PPF systems with better disturbance rejection ability.