A Comprehensive Survey of Control Strategies for Autonomous Quadrotors

TL;DR

This survey comprehensively reviews control strategies for autonomous quadrotors, highlighting current methods and future capabilities to enhance multi-rotor UAV performance across various applications.

Contribution

It provides a detailed overview of existing control algorithms for quadrotors and discusses future directions for expanding their capabilities.

Findings

Summarizes key control strategies used in quadrotor systems.

Identifies gaps and future needs in control algorithm development.

Highlights contributions from major research organizations.

Abstract

Over the past several decades there has been a constant increase in the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Hence, there has also been a growth in the number of control algorithms to service the many applications embodied by these vehicles. Initially UAS were made popular by the military for Reconnaissance, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RISTA) applications. Now-a-days UAS are used for everything from crop surveys to tourism. Nowhere is this more evident than with multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). This paper presents a survey of control methods for multi-rotor systems, namely quadrotors. In doing so, we hope to visualize a clear path to what additional capabilities might be needed in the future. In our examination, we review many of the notable research organizations and their efforts to expand the utility of multirotor aircraft. We also summarize the basic literature definitions and control strategies for autonomous quadrotors.