Fuzzy Logic Controllers Design for the Path Tracking of an Autonomous Coaxial Octorotor

Abstract

Due to the essential characteristics and utility of coaxial octocopter vehicles in various real-time applications and many actual domains, this article aims to propose intelligent fuzzy logic controllers (FLC) for a six-degrees-of-freedom coaxial octorotor with a dynamic model. Using expert knowledge, the developed control structure is applied to track reference paths in the 3D environment with sufficient stability and effectiveness. The tested octorotor dynamic model is divided into six subsystems: altitude, pitch, roll, yaw, x position, and y position. Meanwhile, a Mamdani fuzzy inference controller is designed and applied for each subsystem to generate the appropriate control action. The simulation and the evolution tasks are done using a MATLAB dynamic model of the controlled process in order to perform and evaluate the proposed intelligent control structures of the 6 DOF octorotor model. The illustrated simulation results demonstrate the designed fuzzy controllers' effectiveness in motion stability and error tracking for different types of paths and all tested variables.