Neural network gain-scheduling sliding mode control for three-dimensional trajectory tracking of robotic airships

This article proposed a novel control approach for trajectory tracking of robotic airships. First, the nonlinear dynamics model of a robotic airship is derived and formulated. Second, a sliding mode controller is designed to track the commanded trajectory for its robustness against parametric variations and external disturbances. To address the chattering problem results from the sliding mode controller, a radial basis function neural network is adopted to construct the neural network self-gain-scheduling sliding mode controller in which the control gains are scheduled synchronously with the sliding surface via radial basis function neural network according to the learning algorithm, with switching sliding surface and its differential as radial basis function neural network inputs and control gains as radial basis function neural network outputs. In addition, the stability and convergence of the closed-loop controller are proven using the Lyapunov stability theorem. Finally, the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controller are demonstrated via numerical simulations. Contrasting simulation results indicate that the neural network self-gain-scheduling sliding mode controller attenuates the chattering effectively and has better performance against the sliding mode controller.