On the control of the hovercraft system (Q1591472)

The authors consider the control of a hovercraft ship having two independent thrusters located at the aft. The model is differentially flat, and the control performs with respect to the fixed earth frame of reference. All system's variables are parameterized in terms of coordinates in the earth frame of reference. It is stated that the control system with a corresponding feedback is equivalent to a set of two decoupled controllable linear systems. Simulations were carried out for a straight line trajectory, passing through the origin of the earth fixed coordinates, and for a circular trajectory. The description contains flaws; for example, in a matrix differential equation.