Fractional Order Sliding Mode Control With GA Tuning for a UAV Quadrotor

Fractional order calculus (FOC) uses arbitrary order operations in differentiation and integration. Previously, the absence of methods to solve fractional differential equations limited the application of fractional order calculus. However, with the development of new methods, FOC is now applicable in various fields and has been utilized to enhance control system performance in traditional techniques. FOC is used in this study to develop a new fractional structure for the sliding mode control approach that offers improved performance and more robustness to external disturbances. The fractional order sliding mode control (FOSMC) strategy is designed using a Lyapunov-based sliding condition to ensure system stability. To enhance performance, genetic algorithms are used to adjust the fractional orders and controller parameters. The proposed fractional sliding mode control system is applied on an unmanned aerial vehicle system affected by external disturbances and then it is compared with a conventional integer order sliding mode control (IOSMC) system. Simulation results have proved the efficiency of the proposed fractional order controller where it outperforms the conventional sliding mode controller in terms of better transient dynamics and more robustness to external disturbances.