Developing a control strategy that can effectively track the trajectory of a UAV subject to unknown dynamics and time-varying external disturbances

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the future work and stated research gap and stated challenges of the source papers, classified as general, spanning 3 journals.

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• A novel approach to UAV control: Fuzzy PID-based ANFIS (FPIDANFIS) (2026) · PLOS One · doi

  This paper presents a novel control strategy for quadrotor UAV trajectory tracking, demonstrating enhanced accuracy and robustness across a range of operating conditions. The novelty of the proposed approach lies in leveraging historical data from a baseline FPID controller to design the new FPIDANFIS controller. Specifically, input–output data from the FPID, with the tracking error and its derivative as inputs and the FPID control signals as outputs, were used to train an ANFIS model, which then generates the adaptive FPIDANFIS controller. Comparative analysis shows that FPIDANFIS consis- tently outperforms the baseline FPID, effectively handling disturbances and system uncertainties. While the approach sig- nificantly improves adaptability and reliability, further refinements are needed to enhance control consistency and extend applicability to real-world UAV operations. Future work will focus on improving the controller’s adaptability and validating its performance under practical flight conditions.

  generalfuture work
  Keywords: fpid controller control fpidanfis tracking conditions approach baseline adaptability presents novel strategy quadrotor trajectory demonstrating
• Design and Validation of an IoT-Enabled Safety Monitoring System for Agricultural UAV Operations (2026) · Journal of Trends in Computer Science and Smart Technology · doi

  Current flight controllers primarily focus on navigation and stabilization, with only limited ability to monitor real-time safety. There is a need for a low-cost, real-time safety monitoring platform for agricultural UAVs. The existing systems do not provide a scalable, cost-effective, and easily implemented solution for safety monitoring and early detection of abnormal flight conditions.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: current flight controllers primarily focus navigation stabilization only
• Trajectory tracking control of unmanned aerial vehicle with disturbance observer and robust adaptive neural dynamic surface (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi

  Developing a control strategy that can effectively track the trajectory of a UAV subject to unknown dynamics and time-varying external disturbances. Overcoming the explosion of complexity inherent in conventional backstepping designs. Ensuring the robustness and stability of the control scheme in the presence of disturbances and model uncertainty.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: developing control strategy effectively track trajectory uav subject

Questions about this gap