Robust Adaptive Cascade Trajectory Tracking Control for an Aircraft Towing and Taxiing System

With the rapid growth of the civil aviation industry, the aircraft towing and taxiing (ATT) system has gained significant attention in the literature. Due to its nonlinear and underactuated characteristics, the path tracking and control of the ATT system is a challenging issue. Therefore, in this paper, a robust adaptive cascade control structure is proposed for the path tracking of the ATT system. Firstly, the system description is established via kinematic and dynamics modeling, and the lumped system disturbance is derived for the controller design. Next, the robust adaptive cascade control structure consisting of the adaptive MPC and the CSMC or the RASMC-based dynamics controller is designed with the application of the extended Kalman filter. The system stability in the dynamics loop is verified through the Lyapunov method. The simulation results reveal that the combination of the adaptive MPC and the RASMC can provide a more accurate tracking performance and smoother trajectories under the given disturbances and uncertainties, while both ensuring passenger comfort and meeting the civil aviation regulations, indicating its potential in practical applications.