Resumo: Sistemas dinâmicos híbridos se diferenciam por exibir simultaneamente variados tipos de comportamento dinâmico (contínuo, discreto, eventos discretos) em diferentes partes do sistema. Neste trabalho foram estudados resultados de estabilidade no sentido de Lyapunov para sistemas dinâmicos híbridos gerais, que utilizam uma noção de tempo generalizado, definido em um espaço métrico totalmente ordenado. Mostrou-se que estes sistemas podem ser imersos em sistemas dinâmicos descontínuos definidos em R+, de forma que sejam preservadas suas propriedades qualitativas. Como foco principal, estudou-se resultados de estabilidade para sistemas dinâmicos descontínuos modelados por semigrupos de operadores, em que os estados do sistema pertencem à espaços de Banach. Neste caso, de forma alternativa à teoria clássica de estabilidade, os resultados não utilizam as usuais funções de Lyapunov, sendo portanto mais fáceis de se aplicar, tendo em vista a dificuldade em se encontrar tais funções para muitos sistemas. Além disso, os resultados foram aplicados à uma classe de equações diferenciais com retardo. / Abstract: Hybrid dynamical systems are characterized for showing simultaneously a variety of dynamic behaviors (continuous, discrete, discrete events) in different parts of the System. This work discusses stability results in the Lyapunov sense for general hybrid dynamical systems that use a generalized notion of time, defined in a completely ordered metric space. It has been shown that these systems may be immersed in discontinuous dynamical systems defined in R+, so that their quality properties are preserved. As the main focus, it is studied stability results for discontinuous dynamical systems modeled by semigroup operators, in which the states belong to Banach spaces. In this case, an alternative to the classical theory of stability, the results do not make use of the usual Lyapunov functions, and therefore are easier to apply, in view of the difficulty in finding such functions for many systems. Furthermore, the results were applied to a class of time-delay discontinuous differential equations. / Orientador: Geraldo Nunes Silva / Coorientador: Luís Antônio Fernandes de Oliveira / Banca: Carlos Alberto Raposo da Cunha / Banca: Waldemar Donizete Bastos / Mestre

A teoria de sistemas semidinâmicos impulsivos é um capítulo importante e moderno da teoria de sistemas dinâmicos topológicos. Sistemas impulsivos descrevem processos de evolução que sofrem variações de estado de curta duração e que podem ser consideradas instantâneas. Os sistemas impulsivos admitem vários fenômenos interessantes às vezes, por causa da sua irregularidade, e às vezes por causa da sua regularidade. Para muitos fenômenos naturais, os modelos determinísticos mais realistas são frequentemente descritos por sistemas que envolvem impulsos. Esta teoria vem sendo desenvolvida continuamente. O presente trabalho apresenta resultados originais sobre a teoria de conjuntos minimais, movimentos recorrentes, movimentos quase periódicos e fracamente quase periódicos, teoria de estabilidade de Lyapunov, teoria da quase estabilidade de Zhukovskij e, finalmente, a construção de trajetórias negativas para sistemas semidinâmicos com impulsos. Os resultados novos apresentados neste trabalho estão contidos em três artigos, dos quais dois já foram aceitos para publicação. Veja [13], [14] e [15] / The theory of impulsive semidynamical systems is an important and modern chapter of the theory of topological dynamical systems. Impulsive systems describe the evolution of process whose continuous dynamics are interrupted by abrupt changes of state. This kind of systems admits various interesting phenomena sometimes, because of their irregularity, and sometimes because of their regularity. In many natural phenomena, the real deterministic models are often described by systems which involve impulses. This theory has been developed continuously. This work presents original results involving the theory of minimal sets, recurrent motions, almost periodic and weakly almost periodic motions, the study of Lyapunov stability and Zhukovshij Quasi stability and the construction of negative trajectories for impulsive semidynamical systems. The new results presented in this work are contained in three papers namely [13], [14] and [15]

Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento e as análises de técnicas de controle aplicadas a uma base de movimento de um simulador de vôo. Nos primeiros capítulos são abordados aspectos relacionados com a simulação de movimentos. Uma breve descrição da dinâmica da aeronave e o desenvolvimento do algoritmo de movimento (washout filter) são apresentados. O modelo dinâmico da base de movimento é desenvolvido baseado num manipulador paralelo de seis graus de liberdade chamado de plataforma de Stewart acionado eletricamente. As equações de movimento do atuador eletromecânico são incluídas no modelo dinâmico da plataforma. O controle baseado na dinâmica inversa é uma alternativa para abordar o controle de sistema mecânicos não lineares como a plataforma de Stewart. Porém, essa técnica considera o conhecimento exato do modelo dinâmico do sistema, portanto, a dinâmica não modelada, as incertezas paramétricas e as perturbações externas podem degradar o desempenho do controlador. Além disso, o custo computacional pago pelo cálculo do modelo dinâmico realizado online é muito alto. Nesse contexto, duas estratégias de controle foram aplicadas na malha externa da estrutura de controle baseada na dinâmica inversa para o controle de aceleração na presença de incertezas paramétricas e da dinâmica não modelada, os quais foram introduzidas intencionalmente no processo de aproximar o modelo dinâmico com o objetivo de simplificar a implementação do controle baseado na dinâmica inversa. Na primeira estratégia, o termo robusto de controle foi projetado, provando a estabilidade do sistema linearizado por meio da teoria de estabilidade de Lyapunov. Este controle apresenta o fenômeno conhecido como chattering e então foi adotada uma função de saturação para substituir a lei de controle. Na segunda estratégia, o termo robusto de controle foi projetado considerando um problema de rejeição de distúrbio via controle H \'INFINITO\', onde o controlador considera as incertezas como distúrbios afetando o sistema linearizado resultante da aplicação do controle baseado na dinâmica inversa. Finalmente, três tipos de testes foram realizados para avaliar o sistema de controle: função descritiva, limiar dinâmico e algumas manobras da aeronave calculadas a partir do modelo dinâmico e transformadas através do algoritmo de movimento. As duas estratégias de controle foram comparadas. / This work presents the development and analysis of control techniques applied to a flight simulator motion base. The first chapters deal with subjects related to motion simulation. A brief description of the aircraft dynamic model and the development of the motion algorithm (washout filter) are presented. The motion base dynamics is derived based on a six degree of freedom parallel manipulator driven by electromechanical actuators. The six degree of freedom parallel manipulator is called Stewart platform. The motion equations of the electromechanical actuators are included in the motion base dynamics. Inverse dynamics control is an approach to nonlinear control design, nonetheless, this technique is based on the assumption of exact cancellation of nonlinear terms, therefore, parametric uncertainty, unmodeled dynamics and external disturbances may deteriorate the controller performance. In addition, a high computational burden is paid by computing on-line the complete dynamic model of the motion-base. Robustness can be regained by applying robust control tecniques in the outer loop control structure. In this context, two control strategies were applied in the outer loop of the inverse dynamics control structure linearized system for robust acceleration tracking in the presence of parametric uncertainty and unmodeled dynamic, which are intentionally introduced in the process of approximating the dynamic model in order to simplify the implementation of this approach, the inverse dynamic control. Both control strategies consist of introducing an additional term to the inverse dynamics controller which provides robustness to the control system. In the first strategy, the robust control term was designed proving the stability of the linearized system in the presence of uncertainties, using the Lyapunov stability theory. This control term presents a phenomenon known as chattering. Therefore, a saturation function was adopted to replace the control law. In the second strategy, the robust term was designed for a disturbance rejection problem via H \'INFINITE\' control, where the controller considers the uncertaities as disturbances affecting the linearized system resulting from the application of the inverse dynamic control. Finally, describing function, dynamic threshold and some maneuvers computed from the washout filter were used to evaluate the performance of the controllers. Both approaches were compared.

La problématique étudiée dans cette thèse concerne le guidage en formation d’une flotte de robots mobiles en environnement naturel. L’objectif poursuivi par les robots est de suivre une trajectoire connue (totalement ou partiellement) en se coordonnant avec les autres robots pour maintenir une formation décrite comme un ensemble de distances désirées entre les véhicules. Le contexte d’évolution en environnement naturel doit être pris en compte par les effets qu’il induit sur le déplacement des robots. En effet, les conditions d’adhérence sont variables et créent des glissements significatifs des roues sur le sol. Ces glissements n’étant pas directement mesurables, un observateur est mis en place, permettant d’obtenir une estimation de leur valeur. Les glissements sont alors intégrés au modèle d’évolution, décrivant ainsi un modèle cinématique étendu. En s’appuyant sur ce modèle, des lois de commande adaptatives sur l’angle de braquage et la vitesse d’avance d’un robot sont alors conçues indépendamment, asservissant respectivement son écart latéral à la trajectoire et l’interdistance curviligne de ce robot à une cible. Dans un second temps, ces lois de commande sont enrichies par un algorithme prédictif, permettant de prendre en compte le comportement de réponse des actionneurs et ainsi d’éviter les erreurs conséquentes aux retards de la réponse du système aux commandes. À partir de la loi de commande élémentaire en vitesse permettant d’assurer un asservissement précis d’un robot par rapport à une cible, une stratégie de commande globale au niveau de la flotte est établie. Celle-ci décline l’objectif de maintien de la formation en consigne d’asservissement désiré pour chaque robot. La stratégie de commande bidirectionnelle conçue stipule que chaque robot définit deux cibles que sont le robot immédiatement précédent et le robot immédiatement suivant dans la formation. La commande de vitesse de chaque robot de la formation est obtenue par une combinaison linéaire des vitesses calculées par la commande élémentaire par rapport à chacune des cibles. L’utilisation de coefficients de combinaison constants au sein de la flotte permet de prouver la stabilité de la commande en formation, puis la définition de coefficients variables est envisagée pour adapter en temps réel le comportement de la flotte. La formation peut en effet être amenée à évoluer, notamment en fonction des impératifs de sécurisation des véhicules. Pour répondre à ce besoin, chaque robot estime en temps réel une distance d’arrêt minimale en cas d’urgence et des trajectoires d’urgence pour l’évitement du robot précédent. D’après la configuration de la formation et les comportements d’urgence calculés, les distances désirées au sein de la flotte peuvent alors être modifiées en ligne afin de décrire une configuration sûre de la formation. / This thesis focuses on the issue of the control of a formation of wheeled mobile robots travelling in off-road conditions. The goal of the application is to follow a reference trajectory (entirely or partially) known beforehand. Each robot of the fleet has to track this trajectory while coordinating its motion with the other robots in order to maintain a formation described as a set of desired distances between vehicles. The off-road context has to be considered thoroughly as it creates perturbations in the motion of the robots. The contact of the tire on an irregular and slippery ground induces significant slipping and skidding. These phenomena are hardly measurable with direct sensors, therefore an observer is set up in order to get an estimation of their value. The skidding effect is included in the evolution of each robot as a side-slip angle, thus creating an extended kinematic model of evolution. From this model, adaptive control laws on steering angle and velocity for each robot are designed independently. These permit to control respectively the lateral distance to the trajectory and the curvilinear interdistance of the robot to a target. Predictive control techniques lead then to extend these control laws in order to account for the actuators behavior so that positioning errors due to the delay of the robot response to the commands are cancelled. The elementary control law on the velocity control ensures an accurate longitudinal positioning of a robot with respect to a target. It serves as a base for a global fleet control strategy which declines the overall formation maintaining goal in local positioning objective for each robot. A bidirectionnal control strategy is designed, in which each robot defines 2 targets, the immediate preceding and following robot in the fleet. The velocity control of a robot is finally defined as a linear combination of the two velocity commands obtained by the elementary control law for each target. The linear combination parameters are investigated, first defining constant parameters for which the stability of the formation is proved through Lyapunov techniques, then considering the effect of variable coefficients in order to adapt in real time the overall behavior of the formation. The formation configuration can indeed be prone to evolve, for application purposes and to guarantee the security of the robots. To fulfill this latter requirement, each robot of the fleet estimates in real time a minimal stopping distance in case of emergency and two avoidance trajectories to get around the preceding vehicle if this one suddenly stops. Given the initial configuration of the formation and the emergency behaviors calculated, the desired distances between the robots can be adapted so that the new configuration thus described ensures the security of each and every robot of the formation against potential collisions.

Master’s thesis deals with using a linear matrix inequality (LMI) in control of a dynamic systems. We can define a stability of a dynamic system with a LMI. We can use a LMI for research if the poles of a system are in a given regions in the left half-plane of the complex plane with a LMI or we can use a LMI for a state feedback control. In the work we describe a desing of a controller minimizing a norm from an input to an output of the system. There is also a desing of a LQ controller with a LMI. In the end of the work, there are two examples of a design a LQ controller, which minimize the norm from the input to the output of the system and moves a poles of a dynamic system in a given regions in the complex plane, with the LMI. We use a LMI for a design a continuos LQ controller in the first example. In the second example we use a LMI for a design a discrete LQ controller.

Ce travail présente une nouvelle approche de synthèse de la commande non linéaire en suivi de trajectoire de robots manipulateurs. Malgré la richesse de la littérature dans le domaine, le problème n'a pas encore été traité de manière adéquate : en raison de l'existence inévitable dans les applications pratiques de perturbations et incertitudes telles que les forces de frottement, des perturbations externes ou les variations des paramètres il est difficile d'assurer un suivi de trajectoire de haute précision. Afin de résoudre ce problème, nous proposons tout d'abord une méthode de commande prenant en compte la performance H∞ pour le suivi de trajectoire d'un robot manipulateur. Deuxièmement, nous proposons un nouveau cadre pour la synthèse de lois de commande combinant une action anticipatrice et un retour d'état basée sur une représentation sous forme Takagi-Sugeno descripteur de la dynamique du manipulateur. Un avantage de la représentation choisie est de pouvoir simultanément simplifier le calcul des gains de commande à l'aide de LMI de dimension réduite et de réduire la complexité du correcteur en agissant sur le nombre de règles du modèle de Takagi-Sugeno. Basé sur la théorie de la stabilité de Lyapunov, le réglage du correcteur est formulé comme un problème d'optimisation LMI (inégalité matricielle linéaire). Les résultats obtenus en simulation effectuée avec un modèle de manipulateur série développé dans l'environnement Simscape MultibodyTM de Matlab R démontrent clairement l'efficacité de la méthode proposée en comparaison avec le régulateur PID et la commande CTC (Computed Torque Control). / This work presents a new design approach for trajectory tracking control of robot manipulators. In spite of the rich literature in the field, the problem has not yet been addressed adequately due to the lack of an effective control design. In general, it is difficult to adopt design to achieve high-precision tracking control due to the uncertainties in practical applications, such as friction forces, external disturbances and parameter variations. In order to cope this problem, we propose first control with H∞ performance to reference trajectory tracking control of two degrees of freedom robot. Secondly, we propose a new design framework with parametric uncertainties and unknown disturbances by using the feedback and the feedforward controllers. Using the descriptor Takagi-Sugeno systems, the design goal is to achieve a guaranteed tracking performance while signicantly reducing the numerical complexity of the designed controller through a robust control scheme. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, the control design is formulated as an LMI (linear matrix inequality) optimization problem. Simulation results carried out with a high-fidelity serial manipulator model embedded in the Simscape MultibodyTM environment of MatlabR clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method by comparing with PID controller and computed torque controller.

This work focusses on analysing the stability of the MSFR – a molten salt reactor with a fast neutron spectrum. The investigations are based on a model, which was published and studied by the Politecnico di Milano using a linear approach. Since linear methods can only provide stability information to a limited extent, this work continues the conducted investigations by applying nonlinear methods. In order to examine the specified reactor model, the system equations were implemented, adjusted and verified using MATLAB code. With the help of the computational tool MatCont, a so-called fixed-point solution was tracked and its stability monitored during the variation of selected control parameters. It was found that the considered fixed point does not change its stability state and remains stable. Coexisting fixed points or periodic solutions could not be detected. Therefore, the analysed MSFR model is considered to be a stable system, in which the solutions always tend towards a steady state.:1. Introduction 2. Molten Salt Reactor Technology 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Historical Development 2.3. Working Principle of Molten Salt Reactors 2.4. Molten Salt Coolants 2.5. Advantages and Drawbacks 2.6. Classification 2.7. Molten Salt Fast Reactor Design 3. Stability Characteristics of Dynamical Systems 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Dynamical Systems 3.3. Stability Concepts 3.3.1. Introduction 3.3.2. Lagrange Stability (Bounded Stability) 3.3.3. Lyapunov Stability 3.3.4. Poincaré Stability (Orbital Stability) 3.4. Fixed-Point Solutions 3.4.1. Stability Analysis of Fixed-Point Solutions 3.4.2. Bifurcations of Fixed-Point Solutions 3.5. Periodic Solutions 3.5.1. Stability Analysis of Periodic Solutions 3.5.2. Bifurcations of Periodic Solutions 4. Analysed Reactor System 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Specified Reactor Model 4.3. Implementation and Verification of the Linearised System of Equations 4.3.1. Linearised System of Delayed Differential Equations 4.3.2. Comparison with Reference Plots 4.3.3. Adaptation of Parameter Values 4.4. Implementation and Verification of the Nonlinear System of Equations 4.4.1. Nonlinear System of Delayed Differential Equations 4.4.2. Delayed Neutron Precursor Equation Adjustments 4.4.3. Salt Temperature Equation Adjustments 4.4.4. Nonlinear System of Ordinary Differential Equations 4.4.5. Verification of the Nonlinear System of Ordinary Differential Equations 5. Conducted Stability Analyses 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Nonlinear Stability Analysis 5.2.1. Implementation 5.2.2. Results 5.2.3. Interpretation 5.3. Linear Stability Analysis 5.3.1. Comparison Between the Linearised and Nonlinearised MSFR System of Equations 5.3.2. Stability Investigations Using a Linear Criterion 5.4. MatCont Reliability Test Using an MSBR Model 6. Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Studies / Im Fokus dieser Arbeit steht die Stabilitätsanalyse des MSFR – eines Flüssigsalzreaktors mit schnellem Neutronenspektrum. Als Grundlage wurde ein Modell verwendet, das am Politecnico di Milano erstellt und dort mittels linearer Methoden untersucht wurde. Da lineare Betrachtungen nur eingeschränkte Stabilitätsaussagen treffen können, erweitert diese Arbeit die Untersuchungen um die nichtlineare Stabilitätsanalyse. Zur Untersuchung des vorgegebenen Reaktormodells wurden die Systemgleichungen in MATLAB übertragen und verifiziert. Mithilfe der Rechensoftware MatCont wurde eine sogenannten Fixpunkt-Lösung des Modells unter der Variation ausgewählter Parameter verfolgt und deren Stabilität überprüft. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass der betrachtete Fixpunkt seinen Stabilitätszustand dabei nicht verändert und stabil bleibt. Koexistierende Fixpunkte oder periodische Lösungen konnten nicht nachgewiesen werden. Daher gilt das betrachtete MSFR-Modell als ein stabiles System, dessen Lösungen immer auf einen stationären Zustand zulaufen.:1. Introduction 2. Molten Salt Reactor Technology 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Historical Development 2.3. Working Principle of Molten Salt Reactors 2.4. Molten Salt Coolants 2.5. Advantages and Drawbacks 2.6. Classification 2.7. Molten Salt Fast Reactor Design 3. Stability Characteristics of Dynamical Systems 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Dynamical Systems 3.3. Stability Concepts 3.3.1. Introduction 3.3.2. Lagrange Stability (Bounded Stability) 3.3.3. Lyapunov Stability 3.3.4. Poincaré Stability (Orbital Stability) 3.4. Fixed-Point Solutions 3.4.1. Stability Analysis of Fixed-Point Solutions 3.4.2. Bifurcations of Fixed-Point Solutions 3.5. Periodic Solutions 3.5.1. Stability Analysis of Periodic Solutions 3.5.2. Bifurcations of Periodic Solutions 4. Analysed Reactor System 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Specified Reactor Model 4.3. Implementation and Verification of the Linearised System of Equations 4.3.1. Linearised System of Delayed Differential Equations 4.3.2. Comparison with Reference Plots 4.3.3. Adaptation of Parameter Values 4.4. Implementation and Verification of the Nonlinear System of Equations 4.4.1. Nonlinear System of Delayed Differential Equations 4.4.2. Delayed Neutron Precursor Equation Adjustments 4.4.3. Salt Temperature Equation Adjustments 4.4.4. Nonlinear System of Ordinary Differential Equations 4.4.5. Verification of the Nonlinear System of Ordinary Differential Equations 5. Conducted Stability Analyses 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Nonlinear Stability Analysis 5.2.1. Implementation 5.2.2. Results 5.2.3. Interpretation 5.3. Linear Stability Analysis 5.3.1. Comparison Between the Linearised and Nonlinearised MSFR System of Equations 5.3.2. Stability Investigations Using a Linear Criterion 5.4. MatCont Reliability Test Using an MSBR Model 6. Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Studies

Nous proposons dans cette thèse d’étudier l’asservissement de systèmes complexes par des commandes à mode glissant à paramètres fixes. L’objectif est de montrer qu’il est possible d’utiliser des commandes robustes tout en gardant une approche de modélisation du système et de synthèse des lois de commande simples.Le système physique considéré est essentiellement un robot manipulateur anthropomorphique flexible à muscles artificiels pneumatiques à sept degrés de liberté.Nous nous intéressons aux commandes robustes et particulièrement aux commandes à régime glissant d’ordre 2, Twisting et Super–twisting, et à la commande équivalente qui leur est généralement associée pour réduire les discontinuées éventuelles de ce type de commandes. Ces commandes sont évaluées à travers des expériences sur un robot flexible. Grâce à ces expériences nous montrons la robustesse de ces commandes, l’influence des incertitudes de la modélisation sur leurs performances et la difficulté de synthétiser leurs paramètres pour un système incertain. Un accélérateur de convergence est proposé afin d’améliorer l’asservissement en régulation et suivi de consigne et la stabilité des systèmes incertains. Ces résultats théoriques sont confirmés expérimentalement grâce au robot flexible.Compte tenu de la difficulté de synthèse des lois de commande Twisting et Super–twisting, une nouvelle approche à base de retours d’états commutés est présentée, l’objectif est de proposer une commande à mode glissant dont la synthèse des paramètres est systématique, et ce, grâce à l’utilisation de conditions de stabilité au sens de Lyapunov. Cette approche baptisée Puma : Polytopic Uncertain Model Approach utilise un modèle polytopique du système, ce qui per- met de garder une modélisation simple en considérant le système, quelque soit sa complexité, comme une boite noire. Cette approche est appliquée au robot flexible en simulation, elle est comparée à une approche similaire pour montrer son intérêt.Afin d’évaluer la pertinence de ces commandes du point de vue performance et simplicité de mise en œuvre, elles sont comparées à l’une des commandes la plus utilisée en industrie : le PID. / This thesis addresses the control of complex systems through fixed parameters sliding modes. The objective being to show that it is possible to use robust control laws while keeping the system model and control law synthesis simple.The considered physical system is a seven d.o.f flexible anthropomorphic manipulator robot driven by pneumatic artificial muscles.We address robust control laws, particularly second order sliding modes, Twisting and Super–twisting together with the equivalent control which is associated to them in order to reduce the discontinuities of these type of controls. These laws are applied onto a flexible robot. Through experiment we show their robustness, the influence of modelling uncertainties on performance and the difficulty in synthesizing their parameters for an uncertain system. A convergence accelerator is proposed for enhancing control quality both in regulation and tracking. These theoretical results are experimentally verified through the flexible robot.Due to the difficulty in synthetizing Twisting and Super–twisting control laws, a new approach based on commuted state feedback is presented. The objective being a sliding mode control law with a systematic parameters synthesis using Lyapunov stability condition. This approach named Puma: Polytopic Uncertain Model Approach uses the system’s polytopic model, which allows keeping modelling simple by considering the system, whatever its complexity may be, as a black box. This approach is applied to a flexible robot in simulation ; it is compared to a similar approach to show its interest.In order to evaluate the relevance of these laws from the point of view of performance and implementation simplicity, they are compared to one of the most popular control law: The PID.

This dissertation develops the visual pursuit method for air-to-air tracking and rendezvous of unmanned aircraft systems. It also shows the development of vector-field and proportional-integral methods for controlling UAS flight in formation with other aircraft. The visual pursuit method is a nonlinear guidance method that uses vision-based line of sight angles as inputs to the algorithm that produces pitch rate, bank angle and airspeed commands for the autopilot to use in aircraft control. The method is shown to be convergent about the center of the camera image frame and to be stable in the sense of Lyapunov. In the lateral direction, the guidance method is optimized to balance the pursuit heading with respect to the prevailing wind and the location of the target on the image plane to improve tracking performance in high winds and reduce bank angle effort. In both simulation and flight experimentation, visual pursuit is shown to be effective in providing flight guidance in strong winds. Visual pursuit is also shown to be effective in guiding the seeker while performing aerial docking with a towed aerial drogue. Flight trials demonstrated the ability to guide to within a few meters of the drogue. Further research developed a method to improve docking performance by artificially increasing the length of the line of sight vector at close range to the target to prevent flight control saturation. This improvement to visual pursuit was shown to be an effective method for providing guidance during aerial docking simulations. An analysis of the visual pursuit method is provided using the method of adjoints to evaluate the effects of airspeed, closing velocity, system time constant, sensor delay and target motion on docking performance. A method for predicting docking accuracy is developed and shown to be useful for predicting docking performance for small and large unmanned aircraft systems.

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