Wind-disturbance-based control approach for blimp robots

Blimps have some advantages, for example, that they do not need driving forces to float and can move in three-dimensional space. However, it is not easy to control them since they are underactuated systems with nonholonomic constraints. Some papers have presented control technologies, but the technologies need impractical conditions. Furukawa and colleagues presented a blimp control technology considering a nonholonomic situation, but it cannot be used to control blimps in the presence of wind disturbances. This paper introduces a wind-observer-based control approach that involves the consideration of wind disturbances. A controller based on the proposed approach can generate a driving force in the direction opposite to that of a wind disturbance and help a blimp move against the wind.