Sliding Mode Control for Hexacopter Stabilization with Motor Failure

Abstract

[abstFig src='/00280006/18.jpg' width='300' text='Hovering with 5 rotors' ] This study presents a fault-tolerance approach for hexacopters with failed propulsion systems (i.e., motors and propellers) using sliding mode control theory. In this study, we use an explicit control allocation method with linear constraints for allocating the control input to redundancy actuators, as well as a new sliding model controller designed to stabilize the attitude and maintain the basic flight performance of a vehicle with a single failed motor during an outdoor autonomous flight mission. An asymmetrical motor rotation arrangement is applied in order to ensure controllability for all degrees of freedom. We verify the developed system on a real hexacopter suffering propulsion-system failure. Finally, the comparative results between the linear-quadratic-integral controller and model reference sliding mode controller are presented to evaluate the robustness of each controller against the failure of redundancy actuators.

Control Strategies and Novel Techniques for Autonomous Rotorcraft Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Review

“…Due to payload limitations, lack of actuators redundancy in the quadcopter, and need for a stable, safer, and more powerful flight, hexacopter and octocopter are deemed the best solutions [149]. They are used in a wide range of applications such as mapping, accurate data acquisition, hyperspectral imagery [150]- [153], spectral data acquisition [154], aerial surveys [155], [156], pollutant open areas determination [157], and health monitoring [158].…”