Coordinated Trajectory Control Algorithm for Quadcopter Motion along a Smooth Spatial Trajectory

TL;DR

This paper presents a geometric control algorithm for quadcopters to follow smooth 3D trajectories robustly, even with disturbances and limited measurements, with proven stability and simplified tuning.

Contribution

It introduces a dynamic control law with an extended observer for quadcopters, enhancing trajectory tracking robustness and simplifying controller tuning.

Findings

Control law stability is mathematically proven.

The algorithm enables 3D trajectory tracking despite disturbances.

A realizable output-feedback version with an extended observer is provided.

Abstract

A complete model of the motion of a quadcopter along a smooth spatial trajectory is presented. Based on the model, a robust algorithm is proposed for controlling a quadcopter using measurements of linear coordinates and yaw angle. By introducing additional integrators, a dynamic control algorithm with a simplified controller tuning methodology is obtained. The control law is synthesized within the geometric approach, and its stability is proven. A realizable output-feedback version using an extended observer is also given. The results enable coordinated trajectory following in three-dimensional space despite unmeasured disturbances and incomplete state information.