Differential Flatness of Quadrotor Dynamics Subject to Rotor Drag for Accurate Tracking of High-Speed Trajectories

TitleDifferential Flatness of Quadrotor Dynamics Subject to Rotor Drag for Accurate Tracking of High-Speed Trajectories
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsFaessler, M, Franchi, A, Scaramuzza, D
JournalIEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Volume3
Issue2
Pagination620-626
Date Published04/2018
Abstract

In this paper, we prove that the dynamical model of a quadrotor subject to linear rotor drag effects is differentially flat in its position and heading. We use this property to compute feed-forward control terms directly from a reference trajectory to be tracked. The obtained feed-forward terms are then used in a cascaded, nonlinear feedback control law that enables accurate agile flight with quadrotors. Compared to state-of-the-art control methods, which treat the rotor drag as an unknown disturbance, our method reduces the trajectory tracking error significantly. Finally, we present a method based on a gradient-free optimization to identify the rotor drag coefficients, which are required to compute the feed-forward control terms. The new theoretical results are thoroughly validated trough extensive comparative experiments.

Notes

Also selected for presentation at the 2018 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Brisbane , Australia

DOI10.1109/LRA.2017.2776353
Citation Key2018c-FaeFraSca
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