Ducted Fan Type Two-Axis Control Platform Implementation

Abstract

In recent years, flying platforms have experienced rapid advancements, yet achieving stable and reliable attitude control remains a core technical challenge. This study presents a real-time control framework for a ducted fan platform equipped with two-axis control capability. To address the complexities of real-world dynamic environments, an enhanced adaptive interval type-2 fuzzy logic controller (AIT2FLC), integrated with a supervisory control mechanism, is developed. The proposed system consists of three core components: (1) an adaptive interval type-2 fuzzy controller, designed to stabilize the platform from an unstable to a stable state. This controller addresses the common limitation of conventional IT2FLCs, which often lack a systematic framework for guaranteeing stability, by incorporating an adaptive mechanism supported by Lyapunov-based analysis; (2) a supervisory controller that ensures the system states remain within predefined safety constraints, providing an additional layer of robustness against large disturbances or model uncertainties; and (3) a custom-designed ducted fan experimental platform, which enables full flight attitude control in a ground-based setting while ensuring structural safety during aggressive maneuvers and real-time validation. Unlike conventional rotorcraft testbeds, the ducted fan configuration offers a compact and enclosed propulsion system, which significantly reduces the risk of hardware damage during controller development and testing. This makes it an ideal experimental platform for evaluating advanced control strategies under various operating conditions. The main contributions of this work are twofold: (1) the development of a two-axis ducted fan platform that enables safe, repeatable, and comprehensive flight attitude control testing, and (2) the formulation of a robust control framework using interval type-2 fuzzy logic. The adaptation laws of the AIT2FLC are rigorously derived via Lyapunov stability analysis, ensuring closed-loop system stability and precise trajectory tracking. The effectiveness of the proposed control approach is validated through extensive experimental evaluations, demonstrating its robustness, fast convergence, and practical applicability in aerial platform stabilization with high reliability and safety.