UAV Flight Comparison Using Backstepping: On-board Data and Observers

Abstract

This paper presents the comparison of performance in flight trajectory tracking for a commercial UAV AR.Drone 2.0, using state observers and on board data. This work seeks to establish that state observers are an alternative to close the control loop in this type of applications. The control strategy proposed for the flight is designed using the Backstepping technique. For the implementation of the control law, knowledge of the position and orientation of the UAV is assumed, therefore, its longitudinal and rotational velocities are estimated either by using observers or data from the combination of inertial and visual measurement of the on-board sensors. In both cases, the designed control strategy makes the UAV converge to the pre-established flight trajectory. However, an analysis of the mean square error between the UAV trajectory with respect to the desired trajectory, gives as a result that, in three of the four compared states, the error obtained with the observer is lower. The theoretical results presented are validated experimentally.