Adaptive Dynamic Programming Applied to a 6 DoF Quadrotor

This chapter discusses how the principles of Adaptive Dynamic Programming (ADP) can be applied to the control of a quadrotor helicopter platform flying in an uncontrolled environment and subjected to various disturbances and model uncertainties. ADP is based on reinforcement learning. The controller (actor) changes its control policy (action) based on stimuli received in response to its actions by the critic (cost function, reward). There is a cause and effect relationship between action and reward. Reward acts as a reinforcement signal that leads to learning of what actions are likely to generate it. After a number of iterations, the overall actor-critic structure stores information (knowledge) about the system dynamics and the optimal controller that can accomplish the explicit or implicit goal specified in the cost function. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-551-3.ch005