Modeling and Robust Attitude Controller Design for a Small Size Helicopter

TL;DR

This paper presents a new robust attitude control law for a small UAV helicopter, combining nonlinear and model-free methods, tested under wind gust and ground effect conditions on a real platform.

Contribution

It introduces a novel robust attitude controller based on a non-simplified model, integrating nonlinear and model-free approaches for improved UAV stability.

Findings

Effective control under wind gust conditions

Robustness demonstrated on real helicopter platform

Improved attitude stability with the proposed controller

Abstract

This paper addresses the design and application controller for a small-size unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In this work, the main objective is to study the modeling and attitude controller design for a small size helicopter. Based on a non-simplified helicopter model, a new robust attitude control law, which is combined with a nonlinear control method and a model-free method, is proposed in this paper. Both wind gust and ground effect phenomena conditions are involved in this experiment and the result on a real helicopter platform demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm and robustness of its resultant controller.