Finite-Time Rapid Global Sliding-Mode Control for Quadrotor Trajectory Tracking

To enhance the position and attitude-control of quadrotor for trajectory tracking, we propose a fast decay function utilizing exponential property to improve the performance of global sliding-mode control, allowing the initial value to quickly reach equilibrium. The main research is focused on deriving the finite settling time using the proposed decay function and presenting a detailed calculation process, instead of making a simple modification to a monotonic exponential-decay function. Moreover, we adopt an adaptive control law to ensure the robustness of the quadrotor, even without knowing the upper bound for disturbances. In addition, we perform time-varying mass simulations because the quadrotor’s load mass may change during maneuvering. Furthermore, using the Lyapunov function, the stability of the entire closed-loop system is ensured by the step-by-step stabilization of each subsystem. The simulation results show that the rapid global sliding-mode control (RGSMC) we designed is more effective than the conventional global sliding-mode control and adaptive sliding mode control with respect to stabilization and tracking against external disturbances. Hence, the fast decay property of the proposed global function is verified.