Reduced-Order Observer Based Sliding Mode Control for a Quad-Rotor Helicopter

Abstract

The reduced-order observer design we present estimates the velocity states of a quadrotor helicopter, or quadcopter, based on sampled measurements of position and attitude states. This observer is based on the forward-differentiation Euler model. The observer is robust enough against observation noise that the gain of a closed-loop controller is high enough to improve control performance. A sliding-mode controller stabilizes and implements quadcopter tracking control effectively, as is verified experimentally when compared to a conventional backward-difference method.