A nonlinear path-following strategy for a fixed-wing MAV

In this paper, a Lyapunov-based control law is developed to steer a fixed-wing mini aerial vehicle (MAV) along a desired path. The proposed controller overcomes stringent initial condition constraints that are present in several path following strategies in the literature. The key idea behind the proposed strategy, is to minimize the error of the path-following trajectory by using a virtual particle, which should be tracked along the path. For this purpose, the particle speed is controlled, providing an extra degree of freedom. Controller design is stated by using Lyapunov techniques. The resulting control strategy yields global convergence of the current path of the MAV to the desired path. Simulations are presented using the simulator MAV3DSim, in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the control law. Furthermore an experimental platform called MINAVE I is introduced.