Predictor-Based Control of a Class of Time-Delay Systems and Its Application to Quadrotors

In this paper, a new robust control strategy based on a predictor and the uncertainty and disturbance estimator is developed for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with input/output delays. The closed-loop system is analyzed and sufficient stability conditions are derived based on Lyapunov analysis. The proposed strategy is applied to the particular case of quadrotor systems and validated through extensive simulations to evaluate performance and robustness. The controller is also implemented in a quadrotor prototype and validated in flight tests.