Stabilization of the PVTOL aircraft based on a sliding mode and a saturation function

This study presents a feedback control strategy for the regulation of a planar vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. To this end, two controllers that work simultaneously were designed. The first controller is devoted to stabilizing the vertical variable and is based on a simple feedback-linearization procedure in combination with a saturation function. The second controller – based on a combination of the traditionally PD-controller and a sliding mode controller – stabilizes both the horizontal and angular variables to the desired rest position. The performance of the closed-loop system is demonstrated through simulation results.