Robust Adaptive PD Tracking Control of Nonlinear Uncertain Systems with Application to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This paper presents a structurally simple and computationally inexpensive PD tracking control scheme for UAVs in the presence of nonparametric uncertainties and actuation faults. Both stability and transient performance are ensured with the proposed method. Furthermore, the resultant PD control is adaptive, robust and fault-tolerant, in which the PD gains are automatically tuned online. Both systematic theoretical analysis and numerical simulation demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control design.