Study on the Development of Yaw Stabilization Control Technique for Heavy Weight 2-axis Gimbal

This study develops a stabilization control algorithm for a heavy weight yaw/pitch 2-axis gimbal. First, the 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) equation of motion is derived and then mechanical constraints are applied to establish the motion equation of the 2-axis gimbal. Second, the stabilization control algorithm is divided into an outer loop and an inner loop. The disturbance observer (DOB) and the adaptive neural network (ANN) are applied to outer loop and inner loop, respectively. The outer loop uses the angular velocity measured by the inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor, and the inner loop uses the angular velocity measured by the encoder sensor. The angular velocity of the platform on which the 2-axis gimbal is mounted is calculated using the angular velocity measured by the IMU sensor and the angular velocity measured by the encoder sensor. The calculated value from the outer loop is converted to angular rate command of inner loop. Finally, the performance of stabilization control algorithm for heavy 2-axis gimbal is confirmed by experiment after mounting a heavy 2-axis gimbal to 6 DOF motion platform. This research is expected to have an impact on the development of turrets used in armored vehicles and tanks.