System Identification and H_∞-based Control of Quadrotor Attitude

The attitude control of a quadrotor is a fundamental problem, which has a pivotal role in a quadrotor stabilization and control. What makes this problem more challenging is the presence of uncertainty such as unmodelled dynamics and unknown parameters. In this paper, to cope with uncertainty, an H_∞ control approach is adopted for a real quadrotor. To achieve H_∞ controller, first a continuous-time system identification is performed on the experimental data to encapsulate a nominal model of the system as well as a multiplicative uncertainty. By this means, H_∞ controllers for both roll and pitch angles are synthesized. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed controllers, some real experiments and simulations are carried out. Results verify that the designed controller does retain robust stability, and provide a better tracking performance in comparison with a well-tuned PID and a μ synthesis controller.