Event-triggered discrete extended state observer–based model-free controller for quadrotor position and attitude trajectory tracking

In this article, an event-triggered discrete extended state observer–based model-free controller is developed for the position and attitude trajectory tracking of a quadrotor with uncertainties and external disturbances. The referred event-triggered discrete extended state observer–based model-free controller is composed of two event-triggered mechanisms, ultra-local model-based discrete extended state observer and proportional-derivative sub-controller. To reduce system output signal transmission, the event-triggered mechanism of output signal which owns dynamic and static threshold is designed. Based on event-triggered output signals, the discrete extended state observer is constructed to obtain the estimations of state values which are utilized as controller’s variables and to compensate for the lumped disturbances. The proportional-derivative sub-controller is adopted to guarantee the convergence of trajectory tracking error. To decrease control input signal transmission, the event-triggered mechanism of input signal that processes static threshold is constructed. Moreover, the stability analysis of overall quadrotor system with the proposed control strategy is investigated using Lyapunov theorem and the Zeno behavior is avoided. Finally, corresponding control scheme for quadrotor system is structured and the numerical comparative simulation and co-simulation experiment are given to demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed approach.