Research on Path Tracking Control of Airport Marking Vehicle Based on Adaptive Parameter MPC

Airport ground markings are lines drawn on the airport surface, serving as crucial reference indicators for guiding aircraft towing, takeoff and landing processes, and directing the work of airport special vehicles. The marking vehicle is a special vehicle operating within the airport, whose primary task is to paint ground markings, providing guidance and navigation for airport ground staff, ground support vehicles, and aircraft. This paper addresses the unique ground environment of airports by establishing a two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) dynamic model for the marking vehicle. To overcome the reduced adaptability of traditional Model Predictive Control (MPC) controllers to complex roads, an MPC control based on parameter adaptation is proposed. The feasibility of applying this control algorithm to marking vehicles was verified through co-simulation using MATLAB/Simulink and Carsim, achieving maximum lateral and heading errors of 0.61 cm and 1.088°, respectively. Apron experimental results demonstrate that the improved MPC controller can automatically control the marking vehicle. At an operating speed of 0.5 m/s, the maximum tracking error for straight-line conditions was 2.88 cm, meeting the precision requirements for marking vehicle operation.