Quadcopter attitude and altitude tracking by using improved PD controllers

Abstract

The quadcopter is a complex coupled nonlinear system with unstable behaviour, which makes it difficult to control. Therefore, in this paper, we present an effective control method based on neural network gain-scheduled PD (NNGS-PD) and model reference controller-based PD (MRC-PD) for quadcopter attitude stabilisation and altitude tracking. Both nonlinear and linear methods verified the stability and robustness of the proposed controllers. The simulation results illustrate that the synthesis control methods have good performance in terms of attitude and altitude tracking when faced with external disturbances.