<![CDATA[Precise trajectory tracking of quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) remains challenging due to inherent nonlinear dynamics, external disturbances, and model uncertainties encountered during flight operations. This paper presents a novel third-order integral terminal sliding mode control (3-ITSMC) algorithm for regulating the altitude (z) and roll (ϕ) dynamics of a quadrotor UAV subject to wind disturbances and parametric uncertainties. The proposed controller integrates an integral terminal sliding surface with a third-order super-twisting algorithm, achieving precise tracking with near-zero steady-state error, chattering-free control signal, and rapid finite-time convergence. Rigorously established through Lyapunov stability analysis on Closed-loop stability and finite-time convergence. Extensive simulation results conducted under step and sinusoidal reference trajectories with added sinusoidal wind disturbances demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The 3-ITSMC reduction in root-mean-square (RMS) up to 98.1% in tracking error and energy savings from 51.2% to 95.3% as compared to second-order (SMC), while maintaining preserving robust disturbance rejection throughout operation. These findings achieve that the proposed 3-ITSMC offers a robust and energy-efficient solution for high precision quadrotor control under realistic flight perturbations.]]>
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