Fixed-time fault-tolerant attitude tracking control for UAV based on fixed-time extended state observer

Purpose To improve the robustness of carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with actuator faults attitude tracking control system, this paper aims to propose a fixed-time backstepping (FXTBSC) fault-tolerant control based on a fixed-time extended state observer. Design/methodology/approach A fixed-time extended state observer (FXTESO) is designed to estimate the total disturbance including nonlinear, coupling, actuator faults and external disturbances. The integration of backstepping control and fixed-time technology ensures fixed-time convergence. Findings The simulation results of tracking the desired attitude angle show that the anti-interference, fault tolerance and tracking accuracy of FXTBSC-FXTESO are better than the BSC-ESO control method. Originality/value Different from the traditional BSC-ESO, the convergence speed and convergence accuracy of FXTBSC-FXTESO proposed in this paper are better than conventional extended state observer. And the fixed time controller has the advantages of high tracking accuracy, fault tolerance and anti-interference ability.