Robust Trajectory Tracking Fault-Tolerant Control for Quadrotor UAVs Based on Adaptive Sliding Mode and Fault Estimation

This paper presents a composite disturbance-tolerant control framework for quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). By constructing an enhanced dynamic model that incorporates parameter uncertainties, external disturbances, and actuator faults and considering the inherent underactuated and highly...

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Main Authors: Yukai Wu, Guobi Ling, Yaoke Shi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Computation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3197/13/7/162
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author Yukai Wu
Guobi Ling
Yaoke Shi
author_facet Yukai Wu
Guobi Ling
Yaoke Shi
author_sort Yukai Wu
collection DOAJ
description This paper presents a composite disturbance-tolerant control framework for quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). By constructing an enhanced dynamic model that incorporates parameter uncertainties, external disturbances, and actuator faults and considering the inherent underactuated and highly coupled characteristics of the UAV, a novel robust adaptive sliding mode controller (RASMC) is designed. The controller adopts a hierarchical adaptive mechanism and utilizes a dual-loop composite adaptive law to achieve the online estimation of system parameters and fault information. Using the Lyapunov method, the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system is rigorously proven. Simulation results demonstrate that, under the combined effects of external disturbances and actuator faults, the RASMC effectively suppresses position errors (<0.05 m) and attitude errors (<0.02 radians), significantly outperforming traditional ADRC and LQR control methods. Further analysis shows that the proposed adaptive law enables the precise online estimation of aerodynamic coefficients and disturbance boundaries during actual flights, with estimation errors controlled within ±10%. Moreover, compared to ADRC and LQR, RASMC reduces the settling time by more than 50% and the tracking overshoot by over 70% while using the (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>t</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>h</mi><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mo>·</mo><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) approximation to eliminate chattering. Prototype experiments validate the fact that the method achieves centimeter-level trajectory tracking under real uncertainties, demonstrating the superior performance and robustness of the control framework in complex flight missions.
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publishDate 2025-07-01
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spelling doaj-art-e1b29c78d19a4de78b1a824f9248e4bf2025-08-20T03:58:27ZengMDPI AGComputation2079-31972025-07-0113716210.3390/computation13070162Robust Trajectory Tracking Fault-Tolerant Control for Quadrotor UAVs Based on Adaptive Sliding Mode and Fault EstimationYukai Wu0Guobi Ling1Yaoke Shi2School of Computer and Communication, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, ChinaCollege of Electrical and Information Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, ChinaSchool of Computer and Communication, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, ChinaThis paper presents a composite disturbance-tolerant control framework for quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). By constructing an enhanced dynamic model that incorporates parameter uncertainties, external disturbances, and actuator faults and considering the inherent underactuated and highly coupled characteristics of the UAV, a novel robust adaptive sliding mode controller (RASMC) is designed. The controller adopts a hierarchical adaptive mechanism and utilizes a dual-loop composite adaptive law to achieve the online estimation of system parameters and fault information. Using the Lyapunov method, the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system is rigorously proven. Simulation results demonstrate that, under the combined effects of external disturbances and actuator faults, the RASMC effectively suppresses position errors (<0.05 m) and attitude errors (<0.02 radians), significantly outperforming traditional ADRC and LQR control methods. Further analysis shows that the proposed adaptive law enables the precise online estimation of aerodynamic coefficients and disturbance boundaries during actual flights, with estimation errors controlled within ±10%. Moreover, compared to ADRC and LQR, RASMC reduces the settling time by more than 50% and the tracking overshoot by over 70% while using the (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>t</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>h</mi><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mo>·</mo><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) approximation to eliminate chattering. Prototype experiments validate the fact that the method achieves centimeter-level trajectory tracking under real uncertainties, demonstrating the superior performance and robustness of the control framework in complex flight missions.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3197/13/7/162quadrotor UAVparametric uncertaintyexternal disturbanceactuator faultadaptive sliding mode controller
spellingShingle Yukai Wu
Guobi Ling
Yaoke Shi
Robust Trajectory Tracking Fault-Tolerant Control for Quadrotor UAVs Based on Adaptive Sliding Mode and Fault Estimation
Computation
quadrotor UAV
parametric uncertainty
external disturbance
actuator fault
adaptive sliding mode controller
title Robust Trajectory Tracking Fault-Tolerant Control for Quadrotor UAVs Based on Adaptive Sliding Mode and Fault Estimation
title_full Robust Trajectory Tracking Fault-Tolerant Control for Quadrotor UAVs Based on Adaptive Sliding Mode and Fault Estimation
title_fullStr Robust Trajectory Tracking Fault-Tolerant Control for Quadrotor UAVs Based on Adaptive Sliding Mode and Fault Estimation
title_full_unstemmed Robust Trajectory Tracking Fault-Tolerant Control for Quadrotor UAVs Based on Adaptive Sliding Mode and Fault Estimation
title_short Robust Trajectory Tracking Fault-Tolerant Control for Quadrotor UAVs Based on Adaptive Sliding Mode and Fault Estimation
title_sort robust trajectory tracking fault tolerant control for quadrotor uavs based on adaptive sliding mode and fault estimation
topic quadrotor UAV
parametric uncertainty
external disturbance
actuator fault
adaptive sliding mode controller
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3197/13/7/162
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AT guobiling robusttrajectorytrackingfaulttolerantcontrolforquadrotoruavsbasedonadaptiveslidingmodeandfaultestimation
AT yaokeshi robusttrajectorytrackingfaulttolerantcontrolforquadrotoruavsbasedonadaptiveslidingmodeandfaultestimation