Robust Backstepping Control Based on Integral Sliding Modes for Tracking of Quadrotors

Modern non-inertial robots are usually underactuated, such as fix or rotary wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), underwater or nautical robots, to name a few. Those systems are subject to complex aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces which make the dynamic model more difficult, and typically are subject to bounded smooth time-varying disturbances. In these systems, it is preferred a formal control approach whose closed-loop system can predict an acceptable performance since deviations may produce instability and may lead to catastrophic results. Backstepping provides an intuitive solution since it solves underactuation iteratively through slaving the actuated subsystem so as to provide a virtual controller in order to stabilize the underactuated subsystem. However it requires a full knowledge of the plant and derivatives of the state, which it is prone to instability for any uncertainty; and although robust sliding mode has been proposed, discontinuities may be harmful for air- or water-borne nonlinear plants. In this paper, a novel robust backstepping-based controller that induces integral sliding modes is proposed for the Newton–Euler underactuated dynamic model of a quadrotor subject to smooth bounded disturbances, including wind gust and sideslip aerodynamics, as well as dissipative drag in position and orientation dynamics. The chattering-free sliding mode compensates for persistent or intermittent, and possible unmatched state dependant disturbances with reduced information of the dynamic model. Representative simulations are presented and discussed.