Adaptive Nonlinear Control of a Bicopter with Unknown Dynamics

Abstract

This paper presents an adaptive input-output linearization controller with a finite-time convergent parameter estimator for the multicopter trajectory following problem. The controller is constructed by augmenting the input-output linearizing controller based on a dynamically extended multicopter model with a parameter estimator with finite-time convergence properties. Unlike control systems based on the time separation principle to separate the translational and rotational dynamics, the proposed technique is applied to design a controller for the full nonlinear dynamics of the system to obtain desired transient performance. The proposed controller is validated in simulation for a smooth and nonsmooth trajectory following problem.