Geometric Surface-Based Tracking Control of a Quadrotor UAV under Actuator Constraints

Abstract: This paper presents contributions on nonlinear tracking control systems for a quadrotor unmanned micro aerial vehicle. New controllers are proposed based on nonlinear surfaces composed by tracking errors that evolve directly on the nonlinear configuration manifold thus inherently including in the control design the nonlinear characteristics of the SE(3) configuration space. In particular geometric surface-based controllers are developed, and through rigorous stability proofs they are shown to have desirable closed loop properties that are almost global. A region of attraction, independent of the position error, is produced and its effects are analyzed. A strategy allowing the quadrotor to achieve precise attitude tracking while simultaneously following a desired position command and complying to actuator constraints in a computationally inexpensive manner is derived. This important contribution differentiates this work from existing Geometric Nonlinear Control System solutions (GNCSs) since the commanded thrusts can be realized by the majority of quadrotors produced by the industry. The new features of the proposed GNCSs are illustrated by numerical simulations of aggressive maneuvers and a comparison with a GNCSs from the bibliography.