Modelling And Control Of A Small-scale Helicopter

This abstract is about a project which aims to model and control a small-scale unmanned helicopter by using linear control techniques. Two types of linear approaches have been investigated and applied to the helicopter control problem. In order to control the helicopter by using linear techniques, one flight envelope has to be separated from other flight regimes, rather than considering all regimes simultaneously. Therefore, for this work, the hovering motion of helicopter is investigated, which has several uses in real life applications.The first control approach is based on a cascaded PID control structure and an extensive model in line with existing literature. Simulation results have shown that the response has to be improved and is not sufficient for implementation to model the helicopter. The second approach is based on state-space techniques and uses the full-state-feedback method. A small-scale helicopter has been modelled, and the associated control law, estimator and compensator have all been designed. As the controller response was designed before the control law by placing poles at the desired locations, the simulation results are remarkable, and they are ready to be implemented in a model helicopter. This method is quite important in the modern control theory as it gives one the ability to pre-set the control response by placing poles (which determines the stability) to the right places.

This project is submitted to Queen Mary, University of London (2013) and obtained a distinction grade.