Fast terminal sliding mode controller for high speed and complex maneuvering of unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract Due to the increasing application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), it is necessary to design new strategies related to the complexity of the maneuvering task of UAVs because it is sometimes necessary to avoid obstacles or to maneuver in reduced spaces. Sliding mode controllers (SMCs) have now become a superior alternative for tracking robotics and other types of mechanical systems. For this reason, this chapter proposes fast terminal SMCs for high speed and complex maneuvering of unmanned aerial vehicles. Three fast terminal SMC (FTSMC) techniques will be used for tracking UAVs at high speed. The first is a second-order FTSMC, taking into account the dynamics of UAVs in order to achieve efficient tracking when complex maneuvers are carried out at high speed. The second strategy will be an adaptive quick terminal backstepping SMC and the third strategy will be an adaptive second-order SMC. These three strategies will be designed with the Lyapunov approach, given that the sliding surface reach time is sufficiently small to improve the system's time response when high speed and complex maneuvering is required. Convergence of the sliding variables will be tested by numerical experiments and a comparative analysis will be carried out by implementing several reference complex trajectories. Finally, a discussion and conclusion section on future work is provided.