An improved trajectory tracking control of quadcopter using a novel Sliding Mode Control with Fuzzy PID Surface

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Control Systems
• Aerospace Engineering
• Artificial Intelligence

Background:

• Quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) require robust control for stable trajectory tracking, especially under external disturbances.
• Existing control methods like Sliding Mode Control (SMC) can suffer from chattering and limited adaptability.
• Adaptive gain parameter adjustment is crucial for enhancing controller robustness and performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel Super Twisting Sliding Mode Control (STSMC) strategy with an integrated Fuzzy PID Surface for quadrotor UAVs.
• To improve trajectory tracking accuracy and robustness against external disturbances and parameter variations.
• To reduce control effort and ensure operational safety and economic feasibility.

Main Methods:

• Development of a six-degrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) quadrotor dynamic model using the Newton-Euler method.
• Design of a robust STSMC controller incorporating a Fuzzy PID Surface for automatic gain parameter adjustment.
• Stability analysis of the proposed controller using Lyapunov methods.
• Numerical simulations comparing the proposed controller against SMC, Fuzzy SMC, and Fuzzy STSMC.

Main Results:

• The proposed Fuzzy PID Surface STSMC demonstrated superior trajectory tracking performance.
• The controller exhibited enhanced capability in handling parameter variations and rejecting external disturbances.
• Simulation results indicated reduced chattering and smoother control efforts compared to alternative methods.
• The controller proved to be robust and adaptive across various test scenarios.

Conclusions:

• The novel Fuzzy PID Surface STSMC offers significant improvements in quadrotor control performance and robustness.
• The adaptive gain adjustment mechanism effectively mitigates chattering and enhances disturbance rejection.
• The proposed control strategy is a viable, safe, and economically feasible solution for quadrotor applications.