An adaptive sliding mode fault-tolerant control of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle with actuator faults and model uncertainties

An adaptive sliding mode fault-tolerant control strategy is proposed for a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle in this article to accommodate actuator faults and model uncertainties. First, a new reaching law is proposed, with which a sliding mode control (SMC) law is constructed. The proposed reaching law is made up of a sliding variable and the distance between it and a designated boundary layer, and it can effectively suppress the unexpected control chattering while preserving the necessary system tracking performance. Then, an adaptive SMC scheme is proposed to further solve the fault and uncertainty compensation problem. The proposed adaptation law helps to prevent overestimation of the adaptive control parameters, as well as avoiding control chattering. Finally, a number of comparative simulation tests are carried out to validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed control strategy. The demonstrated quantitative comparison results confirm its advantages.

Automated summary

An adaptive sliding mode fault-tolerant control strategy is proposed for a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle to address actuator faults and model uncertainties. The strategy includes a new reaching law to construct a sliding mode control (SMC) law, which effectively suppresses control chattering while maintaining system tracking performance. An adaptive SMC scheme is also proposed to further compensate for faults and uncertainties, preventing overestimation of control parameters and avoiding chattering. Comparative simulation tests confirm the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed strategy.