Image-based visual servo control for circular trajectories for a fixed-wing aircraft

This paper describes a new visual-servo control algorithm to stabilize an aircraft along a circular trajectory using a single visual landmark on textured flat ground. The control algorithm requires a sensor suite consisting of inertial measurement unit, along with a single embedded camera capable of detecting and tracking a visual feature and estimating optic flow. The proposed control algorithm does not require independent position or velocity measurements and functions effectively in the absence of global positioning system (GPS) signals. We prove local asymptotic convergence of the closed-loop system and provide simulation results to illustrate the closed-loop system performance.