Comparisons of State Estimation methods for a Quadrotor Attitude
Model
Terefe Bayisa1, Yohannes Bekuma2, Rituraj Jain3
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Wollega University
1.2.3
1
terefebayisa2018@gmail.com, 2yohbek@gmail.com, 3jainrituraj@yahoo.com
Abstract— Quadrotors have a wide range of applications in
all walks of life in recent decades, so their attitude control
accuracy is of high demand. Due to their good applicability
to nonlinear multivariable complex control objectives,
numerous advanced state-feedback controller design
methods have been applied in the quadrotor attitude control.
However, the traditional state observer becomes obsolete
due to the presence of disturbing noises in practice. Without
an accurate model, the Kalman filter and smoother are even
inapplicable. This thesis will propose a subspace
identification-based state estimation method suited to the
state-variable estimation for the attitude model in a
quadrotor attitude control system in the absence of models
but with disturbing noises.
In terms of the existing research results on the quadrotor
attitude model, this thesis will take the yaw-axis attitude
control loop as an example to carry out the following
research work with MATLAB.
Above all, an observer-based discrete state feedback control
system is designed starting from attitude control
performances given by users. In order to obtain high-
accuracy quadrotor attitude model and state estimation, a
sufficiently excited attitude-angle reference input is
designed as a pseudo-random binary series (PRBS) using
the settling time and the maximum operation frequency
figured out from closed-loop pre-experiments. Then, the
control quantity and the real attitude angle being input and
an output for the quadrotor attitude model, respectively, can
be collected as outputs. These experimental data pave the
way for the quadrotor attitude model identification and its
associated state estimation.
Next, this project proposes a subspace identification-based
state estimation method to deal with the yaw-axis for
quadrotor attitude model state estimation problem under the
conditions that the measurements for the control quantity
and the output attitude are corrupted with disturbing noises
and that there are no available models. Firstly, a high-order
coprime factor (CF) model for the quadrotor attitude model
is identified by using 4S identification method. An
adaptable CF model for the quadrotor attitude model can
then be obtained by applying the balanced stochastic model
truncation (BSMT) reduction method according to the
mechanical quadrotor attitude model structure. At last, the
estimation states for the quadrotor attitude model can be
given by similarity transform and the relations between the
quadrotor attitude model and its CF model.
Finally, on the basis of the identified CF model for the
quadrotor attitude model from the proposed state estimation
method, the Kalman filter and soother are applicable and
adopted to estimate the quadrotor attitude model states. It is
concluded from the estimation-accuracy comparison that the
resulting state estimation from the proposed one is
comparable to those from the Kalman filtering and
smoothing.
Keywords—Quadrotor, Attitude model, Subspace
identification-based state estimation, Kalman filtering,
Kalman smoothing.
1. Introduction
State estimation is one of the fundamental problems in control
systems in which the true states of the system are estimated
based on the measured data and knowledge about the system.
Subspace identification-based state estimation method has
attracted much attention during the past few years because it is
simple in parametrization, the compact model is minimal
realization, no linear optimization technique is required and it
is Kalman filter framework [1]. This interest is raised to
provide accurate state-space models for multivariable linear
systems directly from input-output data. The method is a
realization-based technique. In this research, using the 4SID
method is very important to estimate the state parameters
using subspace algorithms [2,3].
A quadrotor is a highly linear, multi-variable, strongly
coupled, and underactuated system since it has three degrees
of freedom (pitch, roll, and yaw) and only three control inputs
(pitching, rolling, and yaw moments) [4,5]. It is a type of
unmanned aerial vehicle which is lifted by a set of four rotors
[6,7]. It has two pairs of identical fixed propellers when two
of them rotate clockwise and the other two propellers rotate
counterclockwise [8,9,].
The first quadrotor attitude model is estimated and in
consideration of input and output noise in the true
environment, the quadrotor closed-loop error in variable (EIV)
system is introduced. Then using pseudo random binary
sequence (PRBS) as the reference input to collect input and
output data and identify a linear model of the quadrotor three
attitude angles [10,11]. But, in this thesis attitude model state
estimation of a quadrotor using subspace identification-based
state estimation is very interesting due to the ability to provide
accurate state-space models for multivariable linear systems
directly from input-output data.
The main contribution of this paper is to extract the state using
a subspace identification based state estimation method to
estimate the state of the quadrotor in consideration of input
and output noise in the true environment and compare the
estimated states with the estimated states of Kalman filtering
and Kalman smoothing.
2. State-space quadrotor generalized attitude model
A quadrotor state-space representation is a mathematical The amount of change in angle during maneuvering  ,  and
model of a physical system as a set of input, output, and state
variables related to first-order differential equations. State-  is always very small and it is nearly zero. Finally, the
space refers to space whose axes are the state variables. The three quadrotor attitude angle models can be obtained as [12].
state of the system can be represented as a vector within that
space. This research, start by selecting the system states with  M2
the three degrees of freedom.  =
Let's consider the inputs that can be applied to the quadrotor  J xx
attitude model to control the behavior of the quadrotor. There 
  M 3
are four propellers and three degrees of freedom. Commonly,   （3)
 J yy
the control inputs that will be detailed here are considered for
the vertical thrust across yaw and of the quadrotor [12].  M
  4

 J zz

The generalized quadrotor attitude model in this research

contains, the actuator, zero-order hold (ZOH), quadrotor
attitude model, and an observer. The actuator contains an
electronic speed controller (ESC) and motor. ESC is
an electronic circuit that controls and regulates the speed of
the motor of a quadrotor. It regulates the speed by transferring
current under constant voltage and pulse width modulation is
chopping it to discrete parts and delivered to the motor. Hence
propellers rotary motion will provide torque. ZOH is used for
converting a discrete-time signal to a continuous-time signal
Figure 1: A Quadrotor configuration by holding each sample value for a sample interval. The four
propellers of the quadrotor are connected with motors. The
Let us consider the values of the input forces and torques simple mechanism of direct connection allows the quadrotor
proportional to the squared speeds of the rotors for the to obtain the force of rotating the fuselage by changing the
quadrotor yaw angle [12], their values are the following. motor speed through the electronic speed controller. For the
quadrotor attitude yaw model of equation (3) above, the
4
generalized quadrotor attitude model can be shown in the
M 1  kt   2 i
i 1
following figure 2.
M 2  kt l (12  22  32  42 ) (1)
2 2 2 2 GAM
M 3  kt l (        )
1 2 3 4

M 4  kd (12  22  32  42 )

where kd is the coefficient of drag factor, kt is the u4 ud M4 Quadrotor 

ESC Motors
 T attitude
coefficient of thrust factor, l is the distance between any rotor
model
and the center of the quadrotor, 1 ,  2 , 3 ,  4 are the four k1 k2
propellers' speed of the quadrotor.

Figure 2. Generalized quadrotor attitude model

  [ M 2  
  ( J  J )] / J

yy zz xx
In figure 2, u4 is a control quantity. The electronic speed
  
  [ M 3   ( J zz  J xx )] / J yy （2）
controller k1 controls the motor speed by varying the voltage
 
  [ M 4   ( J xx  J yy )] / J zz
 ud on its armature and drives a motor k 2 . Hence, by adjusting
the duty cycle or switching frequency of pulse width
where J xx is the inertia of the quadrotor along the x-axis, modulation, the speed of the motor can be controlled and
propeller speed can be produced. It needs to transform the four
J yy is inertia along the y-axis, J zz is inertia along the z-axis, propeller speeds into torques for the axis of rotation of the
quadrotor. Since we have four propellers it needs to transform
M 2 is roll torque, M 3 is pitch torque, M 4 is yaw torque of propellers rotational speeds into torque. The quadrotor yaw
the quadrotor attitude model inputs, and  ,  , are roll, attitude model is
pitch, and yaw angles respectively.
 1 chapters. For the generalized quadrotor state-space model, it is
(4) possible to change it to discrete forms using continuous to
J zz s 2 discrete transformation techniques. Hence, the associated
discrete state-space model can be given as
Therefore, it is possible to give the transfer function of figure
2. But, for simplification and to minimize redundancy, let's  x(k  1)  Fx(k )  Gu4 (k )
concentrate only on the yaw axis. Hence, For the given  (8)
reference angle u4 for the quadrotor to produce a yaw angle  ( k )  Cx( k )  Du4 (k )
 . Hence, the quadrotor attitude model can be given as
Hence, the discrete state-space model of a quadrotor at the
sampling period of T= 0.1 seconds is given below.
 ( s) k
G(s)   2 (5)
u4 ( s ) s T
1 T  T 3 / 3
 G   (e B )dt   2 
AT At
F e 
2 2
where k  kd k1 k2 / J zz , whose value is estimated as 0.1 0 1  0 T  (9)
[12]. C  1 0 D  0.
According to the above transfer function, the state-space model
of a quadrotors attitude model for the yaw axis can be given by
where T is the sampling period and F , G , C and D is a
0 1  0  discretized state-space model of a quadrotor.
A , B 
0 0   0.1 (6)
C  1 0 D0 3.2 Closed-loop Error in variables (EIV) model
A quadrotor attitude model state under the closed-loop error in
Using the state-space model in equation (6), the second-order variable conditions is a problem that is highly relevant in
state-space model can be expressed as follows many industrial applications. Initiated by an emerging interest
of estimation of state in the available errors in the inputs and
output have been extended to handle the problem of
x1 (t )   estimating approximate quadrotor attitude model states from
Let us take
x2 (t )   the EIV system. In this research different estimation
procedures have been resulted to review and compare their
characteristic properties. Subspace identification-based state
where  is output yaw angle, is its angular velocity of estimation method applied for the quadrotor attitude model
the quadrotor yaw-axis state estimation framework of the closed-loop EIV system
According to this the state equation for the quadrotor yaw studied in this research as in figure 3 below, in which the
model can be given by linear time-invariant quadrotor state-space model is stabilized
by state feedback of discrete-time observer state-space model.
 x1 (t )   0 1   x1 (t )   0 
 x (t )    0 
0   x2 (t )  0.1
u4 (t ) u ( k )  m (k )
 2  
(7) nu ( k )
 x (t )  n ( k )
 (t )  1 0  1   0u4 (t )
 x2 (t )  u4 ( k )
 r (k )  (k )

ZOH  ( A, B, C , D )
where u4 (t ) is inputs torque and  (t ) are yaw angle. From
the above equations (7), it can be seen from the obtained
attitude model that the structure of the three attitude angles are  (F , G , C , D)
similar. Hence, my concern in this thesis is only on the yaw
axis. K xˆ ( k )

3.1 Zero-order hold discretization
Discretization is the process of transferring continuous-time
state-space models into discrete-time state-space models and it
is very important in this research because the quadrotor state-
space model identified is in continuous state-space form.
Hence, transferring the continuous state-space form of the
quadrotor attitude model into discrete counterparts is crucial.
This process is usually carried out as a first step toward
making them suitable for observer design stated in the
Figure 3: A closed-loop EIV system with an observer-based state
feedback
where r is the reference input angle for the quadrotor, and
 ( k ) is real attitude angle of the quadrotor to be estimated,
u4 (k ) is the control quantity for yaw axis, xˆ (k ) is denoting the
estimated state, and the disturbance noises in the input and
output can then be given as  m (k )   (k )  n (k ) and  x(k  1)  A1 x( k )  B1 r (k )  e( k )
u (k )  u4 ( k )  nu  (k ) in which nu (k ) and n (k ) are 
 u (k )   nu (k )  (13)
  (k )   C x ( k )  D  ( k )   
the measurement noises disturbing on the output u ( k ) and 1 1 r
 n (k ) 
  m 
 m (k ) respectively, ( A, B, C , D)
is a continuous state-space
model for the quadrotor GAM and ( F , G, C , D) is the discrete T
where the covariance for e( k ) and  nu n  are W and
state-space model of the quadrotor based on which one can  
design a feedback gain K . R. The matrices C1 and D1 are partitioned as
The main objective of this paper is to estimate state xˆ (k ) ,
using the subspace identification-based state estimation
method in the available measurement noises in the inputs and C11 
C1   
outputs. C12 
Subspace identification-based state estimation, Kalman
filtering, and Kalman smoothing will be applied. D 
Coprime factorization is a technique that makes a control D1   11 
system ( F , G, C , D) and factorizes it into a product of two  D12 
matrices. Coprime factorization is used to describe systems
and applied in controller synthesis for a given dynamic system 3.4 Derivation of estimated state
with uncertainties [13]. A state variable representation of a system is not unique. 
Then the CF description for quadrotor attitude model can be There are infinitely many representations.  Methods for
given by the designed state feedback law transforming one set of state variables to another is discussed
below. The way to transfer from one internal representation to
another is called a similarity transformation [13]. To perform
u4 (k )   r (k )  Kx(k ) (10) the transformation P , two different sets of state-space model
Based upon the figure 3, we can have a reference input angle can be given as

 r (k ) and yaw angle as outputs Hence the state

equation can be given as  x (k  1)  Ax   (k )  Bu  (k )
   (k )  Du  (k )
(14)
 y (k )  Cx

and

(11)  z (k  1)  Az (k )  Bu
  (k )
  (k )  Du
  (k )
(15)
 y (k )  Cz
Hence, the real quadrotor generalized state-space model can
be given as Let’s have
z ( k )  Px(k )
 A0  F  GK z ( k  1)  Px ((k  1)
   (k )  Bu
  (k )
 B0  G z (k  1)  P ( Ax
 C  DK   1 z (k )  Bu
  (k )
 z (k  1)  P( AP
C0    (12)
  K   1 z (k )  PBu
z (k  1)  PAP   (k )
 D
 
 D0      (k )  Du
y (k )  Cx   (k )

 Iq   1 z (k )  Du  (k )
y (k )  CP
3.3 A quadrotor attitude model subspace identification
Coprime factor model can be identified from the observer-
The transformed matrices ( A, B , C , D ) of the new
based feedback control system in figure 3 by experimental
measurements contaminating with output noises as well as transformed state-space model can be given as
state noise
  1
A  PAP A1 Pc  Pc A1T  B1 B1T  0
B  PB Bw  Pc C1T  B1 D1T
(16)
 1
C  CP QA1  A1T Q  (QBw  C1T )( D1 D1T )(QBw  C1T )T  0
D  D 2. The state-space model in step 1 and transform and
partition of the state space model transformation to a
These equations represent the same dynamical system for any balanced realization { Aˆ1 , Bˆ1 , Cˆ1 , Dˆ1 }if and only if it is
nonsingular matrix P , and hence, can regard these asymptotically stable and minimal.
representations as equivalent. It is easy to see that the
input/output transfer matrix is not changed under the 3. Obtain subsystem realization ( Aˆ1 , Bˆ1 , Cˆ1 , D
ˆ ) via BSMT.
1
coordinate transformation. Then the realization ( A1 , B1 , C1 , D1 ) is balanced and
It be can simply possible to find the linear transformation stable.
matrix P as 4. Obtain the reduced-order models using

C1 P 1  C0
P  C0 1C1 (17)

where with the realization ( ) is the model

In terms of the concept from [13], the subspace identification
method. The involved state-space model parameters {
A1 , B1 , C1 , D1 } can be estimated as { Aˆ1 , Bˆ1 , Cˆ1 , Dˆ1 }, from
which the continuous-time state-space realization can be
derived as
 Fˆ  Aˆ1  Bˆ1Cˆ12
 attitude model control system three angles of a quadrotor are
Gˆ  Bˆ1
 (18)
Cˆ  Cˆ11  Dˆ11Cˆ12
ˆ
ˆ
 D  D11
3.5 Balanced stochastic model truncation (BSMT)
The main aim of balanced stochastic model truncation in this
research is to find a reduced order of the quadrotor state-
space attitude model which approximates the input-output
behavior of the system. There may be a fairly complex large-
scale state-space model. It may be difficult to obtain the
reduced quadrotor state-space attitude model. Hence, in
model reduction, BSMT is very important. It is the most
popular model reduction and optimal Hankel approximation
method. There are infinitely many state-space realizations for
a given transfer matrix. However, its realization is a minimal
realization of an asymptotically stable system [13,14].
The implementation procedure for BSMT can be summarized
as
1. For a state-space model realization { A1 , B1 , C1 , D1 }
from equation (3.4), find the controllability grammian Pc
and observability grammian Q satisfying Lyapunov and
Riccati equations.
to be reduced, with the realization ( ) is the
reduced-order model and is the ith Hankel singular value
of .
Through the study of the quadrotor attitude model in the
second and third chapters of this research, the axial model of
the quadrotor system is obtained. To build a closed-loop
important. Hence, in this research, we are concentrating on the
yaw of the quadrotor attitude model to come up with the model
state estimations using the subspace identification-based state
estimation method. Because the procedure is similar to the
other (roll and pitch) angles of the quadrotor models. Hence, it
is a must to design feedback gain in the next section. But, for
simplification and minimize redundancy, we have used only
the yaw angle to do every simulation in the next sections.
Hence, the identified quadrotor yaw model is shown in
Simulink below.
Figure 4: Quadrotor GAM for the yaw axis.
Control poles are selected by consideration of control
performance to be achieved, which can be described by
maximum overshoot and settling time. When the maximum
overshoot  P %  0 , and settling time Ts  1 second. Hence
damping ratio  can be given as
1 2
 p %  e /
(19)
 1

The value of n can be calculated using the following

formula
 3  * ( z )  ( z  0.0025)( z  0.0022)
Ts  ( 5%) (20) (23)
n  z 2  0.0044 z  0.0000055
3
1  n  3 We can have the following
1  n
The desired continuous control poles are selected as (-3, -15).
 z 0  1 T   L  
 L ( z)  zI 2  ( F  LC )          1  1 0 (24)
s1,2  n  j 1   2 n 0 z   0 1   L2  
(4.3)
s1  n  3 Using equation (23) and (24) the observer feedback gain can
be obtained as
s2  n  15
s1 s2 . L  1.9953 9.9528
T
The dominant pole is five times the poles Then, we
can change these continuous-time desired control poles into
discrete desired control poles according to the following An observer gain should be computed so that all the
eigenvalues of ( F  LC ) have negative real parts. Based on
Ts1,2
z1,2  e a discrete observer for the discrete quadrotor model
z1  e0.1( 3)  0.7408 (21) ˆ (k )  L[ (k )  Cx
ˆ ˆ (k )  Gu ˆ ˆ ( k )]
xˆ (k  1)  Fx 4
(25)
0.1( 15)
z2  e =0.2231
From equation (25) an observer gain matrix can be computed.
Hence, the observer needs to provide an estimate of states that Based on the results obtained above, the observer can be given
cannot be directly observed. Accordingly, the chosen observer below
poles in continuous time are {-60, -61} which should be decay
faster than control poles. The desired continuous control poles xˆ1 (k  1)  xˆ1 (k )  Txˆ2 (k )  T 3 / 2  L1 [ (k )  xˆ1 (k )]
can be changed to discrete form as (26)
xˆ2 (k  1)  xˆ2 (k )  T 2 u4 (k )  L2 [ (k )  xˆ1 (k )]
Ts3,4
z3,4  e
As shown in figure 4, the input u4 is the control quantity and
z3  e 0.1( 60)  0.0025 (22)  is the output for the yaw angle. The purpose of the
observer is to generate an estimate of the state based on
z4  e0.1( 61) =0.0022
measurements of the system inputs and output. The observer
From these, it can be possible to understand that the observer uses a mathematical model of the state space realization of the
pole is 4 times faster than the control poles. system.

x2(k+1)
x2(k)

4 Observer design 0.01 2

xh2

An observer is also used to estimate the state of a quadrotor 1 u_4

attitude model of a system. The purpose of the observer in this

research is to generate an estimate of the state based on 9.9528
Psi
2

measurements of the system input and outputs. The observer x1(k+1) x1(k)

uses a mathematical model of the state space realization of the

0.0005

quadrotor. It can be designed as either a discrete-time system. 1

An observer is a dynamic system that is used to estimate all xh1

states of a system 1.9953

Here in this section, we have designed observer-based state

0.1

feedback which is the main importance in this thesis because,

the observer is used to provides a state estimate of the internal
state of a given real system, from measurements of
the input and output of the system. Based on the chosen
observer poles in equation (22), the corresponding
characteristics equation can be given as
Figure 5: Observer design
5 State feedback law design and realization
The state is unknown to the designer. Hence, I must design a
state estimator to provide a state for feedback. To estimate the
state, we have to implement state feedback. It is checked that
the generalized quadrotor attitude model is controllable.
Hence it needs to design a feedback gain in this section.
According to the performance specifications, the pole
assignment method is adopted to design a state feedback gain 6 Subspace identification based state estimation method
K . The state feedback law can be achieved by the following Mainly subspace identification-based state estimation method
equation. plays a major role in the extraction of states in this research.
u4 (k )   r ( k )  Kxˆ ( k ) (27) The results obtained using the Matlab simulation are given in
figure 8. Here, x1 , x2 are the true states, xe1 , xe 2 are
where K is a state feedback gain matrix and xˆ (k ) is subspace identification based estimated states.
denoting the state to be estimated. 2
10
-3

Based on the discrete desired poles obtained in equation (22), 1

x 1(degree)
the characteristic equation can be given as 0

-1 xr

 * ( z )  ( z  0.7408)( z  0.2231) -2
xe

(28) 1.5 2 2.5 3

 z 2  0.9639 z  0.1653
Time(sec.)

0.02

State feedback gain can be calculated as

x 2(degree/sec)
0.01

 z 0  1 T  T / 3 3
 -0.01 xr

 k ( z )  zI 2  ( F  GK )          2  K1 K 2  (29) -0.02

xe

0 z   0 1  T  
1.5 2
Time(sec.)
2.5 3

Thus, equating the state feedback gain matrix for this case can
be obtained as K  [201.3505 93.5376]
On the basis of the discrete state estimation from it thus is
possible to realize the quadrotor attitude model state feedback
control system using MATLAB Simulink shown in figure 6
below. In the controller synthesis, the designed control gains
are connected in closed-loop feedback by giving step input as
shown in the following. After, the gain K is designed for the
quadrotor attitude model, the state feedback control system
model can be designed as shown in the following figure.
nu_psi
u_4 Psi
u_4
Figure 8: Subspace identification based state estimation result .
Based on the simulation result obtained in figure 8, the
estimated state xe1 , xe 2 is very nearest to the true state,
x1 , x2 . Hence subspace identification based state estimation
method is feasible and satisfactory.
7 Application of the Kalman smoothing
Generally, to do state estimation for the quadrotor attitude
model using Kalman smoothing, the model is important.
Hence, I have used the model estimated using the subspace
n_psi identification method and apply Kalman smoothing to
1/4.9665*1e3
estimate quadrotor attitude model states. To estimate the
K_n
quadrotor attitude model state using Kaman smoothing, the
model estimated using the subspace identification method is

Psi

very important. Based on that model, Kalman smoothing can

xh1

xh2

201.3505 be applied to estimate the quadrotor attitude model state.

-3
10
2
93.5376

1
x1(degree)

Figure 6: Quadrotor attitude state feedback control system model 0

As shown in the figure, above the gain Kn is used to -1 xr

xe s
-2
normalize the output. Hence, the step response curve will be 1.5 2 2.5 3

the following. Time(sec.)

0.02
x 2(degree/sec)

0.01

-0.01 xr
xe s
-0.02
1.5 2 2.5 3
Time(sec.)

Figure 9: Kalman smoother state estimation result

In the above figure 9, x1 , x2 are the true states and
Figure 7: Step response
xes1 , xes 2 are Kalman smoothing estimated states. Hence,
Kalman filtering is feasible and satisfactory to estimate the Table 1: Assessment of state estimation using different norms.
quadrotor attitude model state.
States Norms
8 Application of the Kalman filtering
To estimate the state using Kaman filtering, the model is very x( k ) J1 J2 J3
important. Hence, the model estimated by the subspace 0.000132142 1.610292545
identification-based state estimation method is applied in this xe1 1.48889 10 8
research 0.000401599 0.036233252
xe 2 5.32834 10 8
-3
10
0.001424362 1.498753223
xef 1
2

1
4.28668 10 7
x1(degree)

0
0.000548678 0.034946433
-1 xr xef 2 1.21346 10 6
xe f
-2
0.000130151 1.499632937
xes1 10 6
1.5 2 2.5 3
Time(sec.)
1.10935
0.02
0.000564674
xes 2 1.64224 10 6 0.035965206
x2(degree/sec)

0.01

-0.01 xr

-0.02
xe f
In terms of the computational load as can be seen from the
simulation results obtained in Table 1, subspace identification-
1.5 2 2.5 3
Time(sec.)

Figure 10: Subspace identification based state estimation result.
In figure 10 are the true states,
estimated states for Kalman filtering. The results shows that
Kalman filtering estimated state and the true state are very
nearest to each other. Hence, Kalman filtering is feasible and
satisfactory to estimate the quadrotor attitude model state.
9. State estimation comparison
Lastly, using different norms I compare the estimated state
and the true state. In this research, I have used three different
norms to compare the true state with the estimated state.
N 2
J1    x(k )  xˆ(k )
k 1
J 2  max x(k )  xˆ (k )
k

 x(k )  xˆ ( k )
J 3  max 
k

 xˆ ( k )
where x( k ) is the true state, xˆ( k ) is estimated states and,
J1 , J 2 , J 3 are norms.
Using the above norms, the comparison of estimated states
with true states after long computation is listed in the table 1.
From the state estimation comparison of subspace
identification-based state estimation method, Kalman filtering,
and Kalman smoothing estimation result is clearly shown in
the table above, subspace identification based estimated states,
Kalman filtered estimated states and Kalman smoothed
estimated states have different norms. Based on the results
obtained, the subspace identification-based state estimation
method and Kalman filtering show better estimation results.
Subspace identification-based state estimation method shows
a better estimation accuracy than Kalman filtering and Kaman
smoothing.
based state estimation method is better than Kalman filtering,
are and Kalman smoothing. Because the result J1 shows that
subspace identification-based state estimation is more
preferable. But it is not obvious for the norms J2 and J3 and
subspace identification-based state estimation method has less
computational load. Hence, it can be concluded that, subspace
identification-based state estimation method is more
preferable than Kalman filtering and Kalman smoothing.
9 Conclusion
The true state is very nearest to the estimated state using the
subspace identification-based state estimation method.
(30) Comparing the true state with the estimated states for
subspace identification-based state estimation method and
(31) Kalman filtering Kalman smoothing estimation method, the
estimated states are very nearest to the true states subspace

 identification-based state estimation method shows feasible
 (32) result. Hence, subspace identification-based state estimation

 method is the most satisfactory and feasible method than
Kalman filtering and Kalman smoothing
From the estimated coprime factor, quadrotor state-space
model, the estimation states for quadrotor attitude model can
be derived. The newly proposed subspace identification
method is very influential in state estimation. As I make a
rough analysis for a computational load for subspace
identification method, Kalman filtering, and Kalman
smoothing, subspace identification-based state estimation
method is the most preferable. As we have seen the
comparative assessment of state estimation using different
norms in Tab.1 subspace identification-based state estimation
method is better than Kalman filtering and Kalman
smoothing.
The main contribution of this research is to extract the state
based on subspace identification methods. Because the state
estimation methods using Kalman filtering and Kalman
smoothing will fail without a model. Their identical models
are both borrowed from the subspace identification-based
state estimation method to apply Kalman filtering and Kalman [12] Jin-Cang Liu, Research on Closed Loop Identification
smoothing. Because Kalman filtering and Kalman smoothing Method for a Generalized Attitude Model. Dissertation,
are inapplicable without a model. Master Degree Thesis, Tianjin University of Technology and
The estimation comparison in Table 1 indicates that the Education,2020.
subspace identification-based state estimation method is [13] Kemin Zhou, John C. Doyle, and Keith Glover. 1996.
fitting with the true states. Hence, the subspace identification- Robust and optimal control. Prentice-Hall, Inc., USA.
based state estimation method is better than Kalman filtering [14] Viberg, M. Subspace-based state-space system
and Kalman smoothing. identification. Circuits Systems and Signal Process 21, 23–37
(2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01211649
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