Geometric tracking control of a quadrotor UAV on SE(3)

TLDR

Quadrotor UAVs have four rotor thrust inputs that control six translational and rotational degrees of freedom, enabling asymptotic tracking of three position variables and one body‑fixed axis. This paper presents new results for the tracking control of a quadrotor UAV. A globally defined model of the quadrotor rigid‑body dynamics is used to develop a nonlinear tracking controller on SE(3) that achieves almost global closed‑loop stability. Numerical simulations, including a recovery from an upside‑down initial pose, demonstrate the controller’s versatility.

Abstract

This paper provides new results for the tracking control of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The UAV has four input degrees of freedom, namely the magnitudes of the four rotor thrusts, that are used to control the six translational and rotational degrees of freedom, and to achieve asymptotic tracking of four outputs, namely, three position variables for the vehicle center of mass and the direction of one vehicle body-fixed axis. A globally defined model of the quadrotor UAV rigid body dynamics is introduced as a basis for the analysis. A nonlinear tracking controller is developed on the special Euclidean group SE(3) and it is shown to have desirable closed loop properties that are almost global. Several numerical examples, including an example in which the quadrotor recovers from being initially upside down, illustrate the versatility of the controller.