A Varying-Parameter Adaptive Multi-Layer Neural Dynamic Method for Designing Controllers and Application to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

As an increasing number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been widely applied in many aspects, controllers with higher performance are preferred. In this paper, a new varying-parameter adaptive multi-layer neural dynamic based controller (termed as VP-AMND controller) design method is proposed and applied to controllers of multi-rotor UAVs. First, a varying-parameter convergent neural dynamic (VP-CND) based controller is proposed and its convergence and robustness are theoretically proven. Second, by incorporating the adaptive control method into the VP-CND controller, the VP-AMND controller design method is proposed, of which the global stability, fast convergence speed and strong robustness can be guaranteed. Different from traditional triple zeroing dynamic (TZD) and VP-CND controllers, the proposed VP-AMND controller with self-tuning rates can estimate the unknown disturbances and enhance the stability of the system in the face of uncertainty. Third, computer simulation results verify that the multi-rotor UAVs with VP-AMND controllers can track time-varying trajectories quickly and solve the parameter uncertainty and disturbances problems effectively.