Physics-informed sparse identification-based tube model predictive control for aerial vehicles

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Manzoor, Tayyab, Ali, Yasir, Xia, Yuanqing, You, Lijie, Wang, Yan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866916038548914176
author Manzoor, Tayyab
Ali, Yasir
Xia, Yuanqing
You, Lijie
Wang, Yan
author_facet Manzoor, Tayyab
Ali, Yasir
Xia, Yuanqing
You, Lijie
Wang, Yan
contents Autonomous aerial vehicles necessitate control strategies that balance computational efficiency with robust performance in dynamic operational environments. This paper proposes a model predictive control (MPC) framework for aerial platforms that leverages physics-informed machine learning (PIML) to achieve an optimal balance between computational tractability and robust performance. At the core of the proposed approach lies a sparse, control-affine model identified via the PIML method, which provides a parsimonious yet interpretable representation of the system dynamics by embedding first-principles knowledge and learning residual uncertainties from operational data. This model is incorporated within a robust MPC scheme that adopts a high-order Runge-Kutta discretization to ensure prediction accuracy and an adaptive tube-based mechanism to guarantee constraint satisfaction under uncertainty. The online adaptation of the tube, directly informed by the residual error of the PIML model, ensures robust stability without introducing excessive conservatism. Rigorous theoretical proofs are provided to establish recursive feasibility and stability. Numerical simulations and experiments on a quadrotor demonstrate that our method significantly reduces computational load compared to nonlinear MPC and robust MPC using a high-fidelity model, while outperforming PID, nonlinear MPC, neural-network-based MPC, and fixed-tube robust MPC in tracking performance and robustness, showcasing the practical efficiency of the proposed PIML-based control synthesis for resource-constrained aerial systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_23354
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Physics-informed sparse identification-based tube model predictive control for aerial vehicles
Manzoor, Tayyab
Ali, Yasir
Xia, Yuanqing
You, Lijie
Wang, Yan
Systems and Control
Autonomous aerial vehicles necessitate control strategies that balance computational efficiency with robust performance in dynamic operational environments. This paper proposes a model predictive control (MPC) framework for aerial platforms that leverages physics-informed machine learning (PIML) to achieve an optimal balance between computational tractability and robust performance. At the core of the proposed approach lies a sparse, control-affine model identified via the PIML method, which provides a parsimonious yet interpretable representation of the system dynamics by embedding first-principles knowledge and learning residual uncertainties from operational data. This model is incorporated within a robust MPC scheme that adopts a high-order Runge-Kutta discretization to ensure prediction accuracy and an adaptive tube-based mechanism to guarantee constraint satisfaction under uncertainty. The online adaptation of the tube, directly informed by the residual error of the PIML model, ensures robust stability without introducing excessive conservatism. Rigorous theoretical proofs are provided to establish recursive feasibility and stability. Numerical simulations and experiments on a quadrotor demonstrate that our method significantly reduces computational load compared to nonlinear MPC and robust MPC using a high-fidelity model, while outperforming PID, nonlinear MPC, neural-network-based MPC, and fixed-tube robust MPC in tracking performance and robustness, showcasing the practical efficiency of the proposed PIML-based control synthesis for resource-constrained aerial systems.
title Physics-informed sparse identification-based tube model predictive control for aerial vehicles
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23354