Composite finite-time attitude tracking control for Quadrotor UAVs with prescribed performance constraints

Huawei Niu; Qixun Lan; Xuehai Wang; Jingjing Mu; Huawei Niu; Qixun Lan; Xuehai Wang; Jingjing Mu

doi:10.3934/math.20261041

AIMS Mathematics

2026, Volume 11, Issue 8: 25984-26005. doi: 10.3934/math.20261041

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Research article

Composite finite-time attitude tracking control for Quadrotor UAVs with prescribed performance constraints

1.
School of Mathematics, Pingdingshan Vocational and Technical College, Pingdingshan 467000, China
2.
School of Mathematics and Statistics, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, China
3.
College of Electrical and Information Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou 450002, China
4.
School of Mathematical Sciences, Henan University of Urban College, Pingdingshan 467036, China

Received: 14 April 2026 Revised: 10 July 2026 Accepted: 31 July 2026 Published: 20 August 2026
MSC : 93B12, 93C85, 93D40

In this paper, we address the finite-time attitude tracking control problem for quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) subject to external disturbances and prescribed state constraints. A novel composite control framework was proposed, which integrated a finite-time disturbance observer (FTDO) with a barrier Lyapunov function (BLF)-based homogeneous controller. Specifically, an FTDO was first designed to achieve rapid and accurate estimation of the lumped disturbance, which encompassed external disturbances and model uncertainties. Then, a tangent-type barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) was constructed to prevent violation of the prescribed state constraints. Subsequently, a tangent-type BLF was introduced to strictly enforce the predefined attitude constraints. By leveraging homogeneous system theory and incorporating the disturbance estimates for feedforward compensation, a continuous composite finite-time controller was synthesized. Rigorous Lyapunov analysis demonstrated that under the proposed scheme, all closed-loop signals remained bounded, and the attitude tracking errors converged to zero within finite time, and the prescribed state constraints were never transgressed. Simulation results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
- quadrotor UAV,
- prescribed state constraints,
- disturbance observer,
- finite-time control,
- barrier Lyapunov function
Citation: Huawei Niu, Qixun Lan, Xuehai Wang, Jingjing Mu. Composite finite-time attitude tracking control for Quadrotor UAVs with prescribed performance constraints[J]. AIMS Mathematics, 2026, 11(8): 25984-26005. doi: 10.3934/math.20261041

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Abstract

In this paper, we address the finite-time attitude tracking control problem for quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) subject to external disturbances and prescribed state constraints. A novel composite control framework was proposed, which integrated a finite-time disturbance observer (FTDO) with a barrier Lyapunov function (BLF)-based homogeneous controller. Specifically, an FTDO was first designed to achieve rapid and accurate estimation of the lumped disturbance, which encompassed external disturbances and model uncertainties. Then, a tangent-type barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) was constructed to prevent violation of the prescribed state constraints. Subsequently, a tangent-type BLF was introduced to strictly enforce the predefined attitude constraints. By leveraging homogeneous system theory and incorporating the disturbance estimates for feedforward compensation, a continuous composite finite-time controller was synthesized. Rigorous Lyapunov analysis demonstrated that under the proposed scheme, all closed-loop signals remained bounded, and the attitude tracking errors converged to zero within finite time, and the prescribed state constraints were never transgressed. Simulation results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

References

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