Integrated VFEGO planner and response-type-aware saturated MRAC for coaxial compound helicopter ship-landing

Autonomous approach and ship landing of helicopters in high sea states presents significant challenges due to the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the maritime environment. In this paper, we propose an integrated planning-and-control scheme tailored for autonomous approach path planning and ship-landing of a coaxial compound helicopter (CCH). The scheme integrates a bio-inspired Velocity Factor Eel and Grouper Optimizer (VFEGO) path planning approach to generate safe and efficient approach trajectories. A saturated Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) scheme, incorporating autonomous transition of response types, is employed to ensure robust and precise control under high sea-state conditions and helicopter dynamics. In sea state 5 simulations, the proposed scheme achieved superior planning performance with best objective values compared with rival optimizers and enabled successful autonomous landings in all tested trials while keeping control inputs within saturation limits.