Synchronous Position-Attitude Loop Regulation-Based Distributed Optimal Trajectory Tracking Control for Multi-UAVs Formation With External Disturbances

Abstract

This article investigates the position and attitude trajectory tracking control problem of quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) formation. A distributed optimal control protocol is proposed for UAVs formation to cooperatively complete the tracking tasks under unknown external disturbances. First, the concrete UAV dynamic model is established, and the UAV position and attitude loop controllers are designed based on detailed analysis of the UAV system. Second, in order to overcome the different types of external disturbances in the UAV flight process, the disturbance observer and disturbance suppression strategy are introduced. Then, the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) performance index is introduced to design the optimal control protocol of the attitude loop system such that the UAVs can successfully follow the target trajectory in a specific formation. Compared with the traditional consistent UAVs formation tracking strategy, the designed controllers involved in this article are characterized by low structural and computational complexity, which facilitates faster decision-making according to changes in the actual flight situation of UAVs. Finally, the effectiveness of the distributed optimal tracking control scheme based on the LQR algorithm is verified by a simulation example.