Combined/Composite Adaptive Control of a Quadrotor UAV in the Presence of Actuator Uncertainty

Abstract

Many potential applications of adaptive control, such as adaptive flight control systems, require that the controller have high performance, stability guarantees, and robustness to time delays. These requirements typically lead to engineering trade-os, such as a trade-o between performance and robustness. In this paper, we examine a combined/composite model reference adaptive control (CMRAC) approach that can be used to achieve higher performance as well as higher levels of robustness. The CMRAC design is validated with flight tests of a light-weight, low-cost quadrotor UAV platform inside an indoor test facility. The combined/composite adaptive controller was found to oer increased robustness to parametric uncertainties. The design of the combined/composite adaptive controller is presented, followed by a comparison with the existing linear controller and a direct adaptive controller.