Robust Safety Filter Synthesis for Quaternion Attitude Dynamics via LMI-Based Ellipsoidal Invariant Sets

Abstract

We present a safety filter to guarantee constraint satisfaction on the rotation angle in the presence of disturbances. An LMI-based framework simultaneously synthesizes a maximal ellipsoidal robust controlled invariant (RCI) set and its associated state-feedback backup control law by solving a single convex semidefinite program, subject to state and input constraints. To extend this framework to nonlinear quaternion attitude dynamics, we derive exact closed-form sector bounds on the quaternion kinematic nonlinearity and analytically embed them into the LMI via the S-procedure. A smooth mixing law intervenes only as the state approaches the RCI boundary, preserving nominal performance during safe operation. This work is motivated by hierarchical aerial control architectures, where outer-loop commands can generate attitude references that drive the inner-loop attitude state unstable, a cascade failure mode that endangers the entire system. Quadrotor simulations with hierarchical controller structures under bounded disturbances confirm constraint satisfaction across three scenarios specifically designed to stress-test the cascade failure mode: set-point tracking with small initial errors, set-point tracking with large initial position errors that saturate the outer loop, and high-frequency circular trajectory following that persistently excites the inner-loop attitude dynamics.