Robust Backstepping Controller Design with a Fuzzy Compensator for Autonomous Hovering Quadrotor UAV

The purpose of this paper is to propose a robust controller for trajectory tracking and stabilization of a quadrotor UAV perturbed by unknown uncertainties and disturbances. A combination of nonlinear backstepping scheme with intelligent fuzzy system as a new key idea to generate a robust controller is presented. The control law design utilizes the backstepping control methodology that uses Lyapunov function which can guarantee the stability of the system, whereas the intelligent system is used as a compensator to attenuate the effects caused by unknown uncertainties and disturbances. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed control scheme can achieve favorable control performances for autonomous hovering quadrotor UAV even in the presence of unknown perturbations.