Autonomous vertical landing on an oscillating platform: an internal-model based approach

In this paper we address the design of an autopilot for the autonomous landing of a vertical take off and landing vehicle on a ship whose deck oscillates in the vertical direction due to high sea states. The deck motion is modeled as the superposition of a fixed number of sinusoidal functions of time, of unknown frequency, amplitude and phase. We design an internal-model-based error-feedback dynamic regulator that is robust with respect to uncertainties on the mechanical parameters that characterize the model and secures global convergence. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.