Robust adaptive backstepping fast terminal sliding mode controller for uncertain quadrotor UAV

The problem of controlling the quadrotor orientation and position is considered in the presence of parametric uncertainties and external disturbances. Previous works generally assume that the flight controller parameters are constants. In reality, these parameters depend on the desired trajectory. In this article, a complete mathematical model of a quadrotor UAV is presented based on the Euler-Newton formulation. A robust nonlinear fast control structured for the quadrotor position and attitude trajectory tracking is designed. The position loop generates the actual thrust to control the altitude of the quadrotor and provides the desired pitch and roll angles to the attitude loop, which allow the control of the quadrotor center of gravity in the horizontal plane. The attitude loop generates the rolling, pitching and yawing torques that easily allow the insurance of the quadrotors stability. The outer loop (position loop) uses the robust adaptive backstepping (AB) control to get the desired Euler-angles and the control laws. The inner loop (attitude loop) employs a new controller based on a combination of backstepping technique and fast terminal sliding mode control (AB-ABFTSMC) to command the yaw angle and the tilting angles. In order to estimate the proposed controller parameters of the position and the upper bounds of the uncertainties and disturbances of the attitude, online adaptive rules are proposed. Furthermore, the Lyapunov analysis is used to warranty the stability of the quadrotor UAV system and to ensure the robustness of the controllers against variation. Finally, different simulations were performed in the MATLAB environment to show the efficiency of the suggested controller. The sovereignty of the proposed controller is highlighted by comparing its performance with various approaches such as classical sliding mode control, integral backstepping and second order sliding mode controls.