Adaptive Model-Independent Tracking of Rigid Body Position and Attitude Motion with Mass and Inertia Matrix Identification using Dual Quaternions

In this paper, we propose a nonlinear adaptive position and attitude tracking controller for a rigid body that requires no information about the mass and inertia matrix of the body. Moreover, we provide sufficient conditions on the reference trajectory that guarantee mass and inertia matrix identification. The controller is shown to be almost globally asymptotically stable and can handle large error angles and displacements. One of the novelties of this paper is the use of unit dual quaternions to represent the position and attitude of the rigid body. We show that dual quaternions can be used to extend existing attitudeonly controllers based on quaternions into combined position and attitude controllers with similar properties.