Direct Adaptive Tracking Control of Quadrotor Aerial Vehicles

This paper presents a novel adaptive control algorithm solving the trajectory tracking problem for quadrotor aerial vehicles. A model reference approach is used, such that the vehicle tracks the trajectory of a reference system, which itself tracks a specified desired trajectory. The control law is derived using a backstepping procedure. A technique derived from dynamic surface control is used to simplify the expression of the obtained control algorithm, with no significant loss in terms of performance. Proof of stability is obtained using Lyapunov theory. Results from numerical simulations illustrate the performance of the obtained controller.