Design of a Position Tracking Controller for Quadrotor UAVs with Variable Mass
Yadong Wang, Ziqiang Li, Yihao Wang, Yuan Yang · 2024
This study addresses the trajectory tracking challenges of quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the presence of load mass variations and disturbances. It introduces a position controller design based on integral backstepping and adaptive control. By incorporating horizontal and vertical position controllers along with a mass observer, precise trajectory tracking control of the UAV is achieved. Simulation results demonstrate that, compared to existing control methods, the proposed controllers can rapidly and accurately estimate the UAV's mass variations under both gradual and sudden changes, effectively reducing tracking errors and enhancing control performance. This research offers an effective control strategy for addressing the trajectory tracking issues of quadcopter UAVs during load-variable missions.