High-precision prescribed-time path following for quadrotor

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

A high-precision prescribed-time guidance law is developed for a quadrotor to accomplish precise path following at predesigned time T. Firstly, a new control structure is proposed for a quadrotor to perform fixed-velocity back-to-turn flying mode by introducing four controllers, which can realize a non-sideslip and bank-to-turn flight scheme just like a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. Then, prescribed-time guidance law is presented based on fixed-velocity back-to-turn flying mode via combining sliding mode control with a compensation function [Formula: see text] to improve tracking precision of conventional methods. Compensation function [Formula: see text] is designed to make state error achieve convergence at prescribed time exactly. Meanwhile, global sliding mode is established to enhance robustness of the system. Then, the stability and characteristic of prescribed-time convergence are proved strictly. Finally, simulations with a 6-degree-of-freedom quadrotor model are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of prescribed-time guidance law by comparing with traditional guidance law.