Nonlinear Observer-based Control Design for a Three-axis Inertial Stabilized Platform

For decades in the aerospace and control sciences, the Inertial Stabilized Platform (ISP) system has been studied to improve the accuracy of recipient photos or target tracking. This paper presents a nonlinear observer-based control method for three Degrees Of Freedom (3-DOF) ISP systems. First, a new formula of the state space equation for the 3-DOF ISP system is proposed to make this model suitable for designing an observer-based control. Then, by measuring the angular positions as output feedback, the angular velocities are estimated by the nonlinear observer, and Lyapunov-based nonlinear control techniques are used to design the observer. Furthermore, the exponential stability and convergence of the observer system are proved. Finally, the auxiliary control signal is considered so that the dynamics of the designed observer become a simple linear form and are easily controlled by the state feedback controller. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed control strategy.