Fast-terminal Super-twisting Control Applications to Quadrotor UAV

This paper compares backstepping controller and fast terminal super twisting sliding mode controller (FTSTSMC) approaches for position and altitude control of quadrotor in the presence of constrained disturbances and uncertainties. As conventional SMC which ensures only asymptotic convergence, a new sliding surface is made that allows the tracking error to quickly go to zero in a set amount of time. For achieving above condition based on the super-twisting algorithm, a control law is made that both removes the chattering and handles the quick convergence. The stability in terms of convergence to zero of the entire closed loop system in finite time is examined using the mathematical formulas and the Lyapunov stability theory. Using MATLAB simulation, the proposed controller's robustness and effectiveness are compared against backstepping control technique.