Control of a fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle using a robust fractional order controller

Fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (FWUAVs) are widely utilized in both military and civilian sectors due to their ability to perform risky, inaccessible operations. The mathematical model of FWUAVs is complex, incorporating physical laws and coordinate systems with transformation matrices. In addition, controlling FWUAVs is challenging due to their nonlinear and coupled dynamics. This paper focuses on tracking trajectories for fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles (FWUAVs) using a Robust Fractional Order Sliding Mode Controller (RFOSMC). An RFOSMC, which combines a conventional Sliding Mode Controller (SMC) with flexible fractional calculus, is proposed in this paper. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is used to tune the control gains of RFOSMC. External disturbances and parameter variation are added to evaluate the controller's performance. Comparative studies have been done with Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), Fractional Order PID (FOPID), SMC, and robust FOSMC. RFOSMC performs better than LQR, FOPID, and SMC in tracking accuracy, response speed, and overshoot. In addition, the performance comparison of RFOSMC and conventional SMC has been done based on performance index values of errors (ITAE), and RFOSMC showed a 76.5918% improvement. For a step input, RFOSMC showed the smallest settling time of 0.835s compared with 2.724s for SMC and 4.8573s for FOPID. Open-loop model verification and overall control system of FWUAV are done using MATLAB/Simulink software.