Title: Geometric Surface-Based Tracking Control of a Quadrotor UAV under Actuator Constraints,
Abstract: This paper presents contributions on nonlinear tracking control systems for a
quadrotor unmanned micro aerial vehicle. New controllers are proposed based on
nonlinear surfaces composed by tracking errors that evolve directly on the
nonlinear configuration manifold thus inherently including in the control
design the nonlinear characteristics of the SE(3) configuration space. In
particular geometric surface-based controllers are developed, and through
rigorous stability proofs they are shown to have desirable closed loop
properties that are almost global. A region of attraction, independent of the
position error, is produced and its effects are analyzed. A strategy allowing
the quadrotor to achieve precise attitude tracking while simultaneously
following a desired position command and complying to actuator constraints in a
computationally inexpensive manner is derived. This important contribution
differentiates this work from existing Geometric Nonlinear Control System
solutions (GNCSs) since the commanded thrusts can be realized by the majority
of quadrotors produced by the industry. The new features of the proposed GNCSs
are illustrated by numerical simulations of aggressive maneuvers and a
comparison with a GNCSs from the bibliography.