A Robust Disturbance-Rejection Controller Using Model Predictive Control for Quadrotor UAV in Tracking Aggressive Trajectory

Abstract

A robust controller for the waypoint tracking of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is proposed in this paper, in which position control and attitude control are effectively decoupled. Model predictive control (MPC) is employed in the position controller. The constraints of motors are imposed on the state and input variables of the optimization equation. This design effectively mitigates the nonlinearity of the attitude loop and enhances the planning efficiency of the position controller. The attitude controller is designed using a nonlinear and robust control law based on SO(3) space, which enables continuous control on the SO(3) manifold. By extending the differential flatness of the quadrotor-UAV to the angular acceleration level, the mapping of the control reference from the position controller to the attitude controller is achieved. Simulations are carried out to demonstrate the capability of the proposed controller. In the simulations, multiple aggressive flight trajectories and severe external disturbances are designed. The results show that the controller is robust, with superior accuracy in tracking aggressive trajectories.