Enhancing aerial robots performance through robust hybrid control and metaheuristic optimization of controller parameters

Autonomous flying robots (AFRs) have captured significant interest owing to their agile maneuverability, adaptability, and economical viability. However, the pursuit of enhancing their trajectory tracking performance presents an ongoing challenge. In light of this, our work introduces an innovative strategy that integrates optimization metaheuristic algorithms with a robust hybrid control framework for AFRs, resulting in an optimized and robust controller tailored for autonomous quadrotor robots. By optimizing the controller parameters, we aim to minimize the tracking error and improve the overall performance of AFRs. To evaluate our approach, this study comprehensively analyzes four metaheuristic algorithms in addition to the Improved Grey Wolf Optimization (I-GWO) which outperforms others in quality, convergence rate, and robustness. The proposed I-GWO integration yields a tracking error of 23.25, surpassing Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) (24.36), Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) (29.63), and Sine Cosine Algorithm (SCA) (2481.56). The I-GWO has also achieved its minimum objective value within less than 20 iterations compared to other algorithms. Extensive simulations show that our framework achieves optimal and accurate trajectory tracking, critical for safe and efficient AFR operations in various applications. This study emphasizes the importance of choosing suitable optimization algorithms and provides a systematic method for tuning controller gains applicable to different AFR types and control problems. Our contributions could advance more reliable and advanced AFR development in areas such as agriculture, inspection, monitoring, and search and rescue operations. A supplemental animated simulation of this work is available at https://youtu.be/aJMq8ROW51g .