IJCAS

In this paper, a novel global sliding mode controller (GSMC) with a comprehensive observer is used to solve the problems of time-varying coefficients, modeling errors and disturbance with unknown upper bound in the trajectory tracking control of the air-cushion vehicle (ACV). Considering the multiple resistance coefficients that change with the motion state in the ACV’s dynamic model, a comprehensive observer is used to estimate and compensate for the model uncertainty in real time. An adaptive disturbance estimation law without disturbance upper bound is given to compensate for the total disturbance. On the basis of real-time compensation of model uncertainty by adaptive estimation law, a new GSMC with hyperbolic tangent function is proposed to track the ACV’s trajectory. The interconnected system of observer and trajectory tracking controller is shown to have enhanced robustness. Finally, simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed control approaches.

Keywords: Adaptive disturbance observer, air cushion vehicle, global sliding mode controller, trajectory tracking.