Optimization-based automatic carrier landing control with pilot model and approaching power compensation

This paper presents an automatic carrier landing control method that incorporates a velocity-based approaching power compensation system. A precise landing mode framework is developed to account for external disturbances, and a pilot-observed model is introduced to simulate pilot behavior during the landing phase. The control parameters are optimized using the pigeon-inspired optimization algorithm, which is enhanced with a dropout mechanism to improve convergence and prevent entrapment in local optima by balancing exploration and exploitation. Experimental results demonstrate that the velocity-based approaching power compensation system outperforms the traditional angle-of-attack-based system, leading to reduced landing point errors and improved landing performance. Numerical simulations further validate the proposed pilot model's ability to minimize height error overshoot. The optimization method is also shown to be more effective compared to conventional approaches.