40 RIDTEC | Vol. 10, n.° 2, julio - diciembre 2014. V ehículo aéreo no tripulado para medición de flujos atmosféricos Abstract—A simplified model of the hovercraft is used having three degrees of freedom and the control is considered as having two inputs. This paper addresses the control law problem by reformulating the problem in terms of a direct Lyapunov approach whose derivation is performed using the symbolic manipulation program Maple. The proposed solution for this controller design formulation uses the control law instead of inverse dynamics to determine the coordinate histories for the unspecified axes, and represents a novel approach for the control of the underactuated system such that the control law could stabilize both the actuated and underactuated axes. Simulation of the model is carried out in the MATLAB/Simulink environment, bringing a new effective method to solve the control problem of the hovercraft, which is a difficult system to control because its movement is subjected to nonholonomic constraints. Keywords—controller, hovercraft, Lyapunov, model, movement, nonholonomic, underactuated. Resumen—Se presenta un modelo simplificado del aerodeslizador utilizando tres grados de libertad y considerando el control como uno de dos entradas. En este trabajo se aborda el problema de la ley de control reformulando el problema en términos de un enfoque directo de Lyapunov cuya derivación se realiza utilizando el programa de manipulación simbólica Maple. La solución propuesta para esta formulación diseño del controlador utiliza la ley de control en lugar de la dinámica inversa para determinar el historial de coordenadas para los ejes no especificados, y representa un enfoque novedoso para el control del sistema de subactuado de tal manera que la ley de control podría estabilizar tanto al eje actuado como al subactuado. Simulación del modelo se lleva a cabo en el entorno MATLAB / Simulink, con lo que un nuevo método eficaz para resolver el problema de control del aerodeslizador, que es un sistema difícil de controlar debido a su movimiento se somete a restricciones no holonómicos. Palabras Claves— controlador, aerodeslizadores, Lyapunov, modelo, movimiento, no holonómica, subactuado. __________________________________ Tipo de Articulo: original Fecha de Recepción: 15 de septiembre de 2014 Fecha de Aceptación: 18 de noviembre de 2014 1.Introduction T he use of unmanned vehicles (UVs) gains interest due to the various applications that UVs provide as solutions to the many needs of society. Compared with traditional UVs, the hovercraft provides faster speeds for running on water, ice, and land surfaces. A control law for the asymptotic stabilization of an unmanned hovercraft is accomplished by finding the solution of matching conditions that arise from Lyapunov’s second method, analogous to the dissipation of energy, [1]. A simplified model of the hovercraft is used having three degrees of freedom and the control is considered as having two inputs. This controller Dynamic, Simulation and Control Design of an Unmanned Hovercraft 'H\ND *DUFtD Mechanical Engineering Department. Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá E-mail: deyka.garcia@utp.ac.pa