Robust Model-Free Control Applied to a Quadrotor UAV

The objective of this paper is to deal with a new technique based on Model-Free Control (MFC). The concept of this controller is to use a basic controller along with an ultra-local model to compensate for system’s uncertainties and disturbances. In this paper, a proposed algorithm is introduced based on an integrated structure between the Nonlinear Integral-Backstepping technique (NIB) and the MFC. The LQR, NIB, LQR-MFC, and NIB-MFC are implemented on a real quadrotor UAV. Various real-time flight tests are conducted to validate the importance of using the MFC side by side with NIB. The proposed combination shows robust performance compared to the other algorithms under fault-free and actuator fault conditions.