Review of SMC and FOSMC Strategies for Rotary Wing UAVs

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are widely used in fields such as autonomous missions, reconnaissance, surveillance, and various industrial applications. These vehicles can perform desired tasks without human intervention in challenging environmental conditions. However, UAV control can be difficult due to environmental factors, wind disturbances, and uncertainties in system parameters. Therefore, developing reliable control strategies for UAVs is a significant challenge for researchers and engineers. This study presents a comprehensive review of rotary-wing UAVs, focusing on quadcopter and helicopter systems. Approximately 77 studies were selected from the Web of Science (WOS) database and analyzed, with an emphasis on Sliding Mode Control (SMC) and Fractional-Order SMC (FOSMC) applications in these systems. The review addresses key topics such as degrees of freedom, proposed control methods, adjustment techniques, comparative methods, fractional-order definitions, simulation tools, and explanations. The literature analysis highlights current research trends by showing the performance advantages and limitations of SMC and FOSMC methods. Furthermore, future research directions and existing knowledge gaps are discussed in detail. This review was prepared to provide the control engineering community with a comprehensive understanding of SMC and FOSMC applications in rotary wing systems and to contribute to the development of innovative and effective control strategies.