Control for 2-DOF Electroaerodynamic Levitation Systems Considering Discharge Characteristics

Electroaerodynamics (EAD) is a phenomenon that generates a gas motion by applying high voltage between electrodes. One method of creating thrust with EAD is the use of the corona discharge, which is a self-sustaining discharge. Since it does not require any moving parts, the corona discharge produces thrust robustly and quietly. Therefore, this thrust system is expected to be utilized as the thrust source for drones. However, since the relationship between thrust and applied voltage is nonlinear, dealing with this problem in control is indispensable. Although some studies have been conducted on control methods with the corona discharge, few have been performed on multi-degrees of freedom (DOF) control based on theoretical modeling, which is essential for achieving attitude control during flight. Thus, this paper proposes a control system based on theoretical modeling to realize 2-DOF height and angle control. This study utilizes the idea of differential mode and voltage range limitations and introduces a disturbance observer (DOB) to construct a control system. Two simulations are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposal. The first simulation shows that the proposal can follow the command value with small errors, indicating the possibility of multi-DOF control. The second simulation revealed that the proposal significantly suppressed attitude change under disturbance and contributed to improved responsiveness.