Passivity-based control of VToL UAVs with a momentum-based estimator of external wrench and unmodeled dynamics

A passivity-based control of Vertical Take-off and Landing (VToL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is presented in this paper. An estimator of unmodeled dynamics and external wrench (forces plus moments) acting on the aerial vehicle and based on the momentum of the system is employed to compensate such disturbances effects. This arrangement allows VToL UAVs to perform hovering, tracking and aerial manipulation tasks in unstructured environments. A rigorous stability proof is provided under certain assumptions. Experiments are presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed control design.