A Benchmark Framework for Testing, Evaluation, and Comparison of Quadrotor Linear and Nonlinear Controllers

Abstract

A benchmark framework to test, evaluate, and compare different quadrotor controllers is presented. A detailed nonlinear quadrotor model and a set of six mission scenarios are used to evaluate seven state-of-the-art linear and nonlinear controllers. The quadrotor model is based on the Lagrange formulation and includes aerodynamic and gyroscopic effects, allows for sensor feedback noise to be introduced, and account for first order motor dynamics with input saturation. Simulated mission scenarios include realistic disturbances such as abrupt change of mass, wind gust, and aggressive flight maneuvers. The benchmark framework is the primary contribution of this research; the framework allows for performance comparison of multiple control architectures and implementations, and, the resulting open access testbed is made available to other researchers. Moreover, the same framework may be used to conduct simulated experiments (using ROS/Gazebo, X-Plane, or other software tools), and, with minor modifications, to compare controller performance based on real flights.