Robust trajectory tracking control for a laboratory helicopter

This paper presents a robust nonlinear control strategy to deal with the trajectory tracking control problem for a laboratory helicopter. The helicopter model is considered as a nominal one with uncertainties such as unmodeled nonlinear dynamics, parametric uncertainties, and external disturbances. The proposed control approach incorporates the feedback linearization technique (FLT) and the signal compensation technique. The FLT is first applied to achieve the linearization of the nominal nonlinear model for reducing the conservation of the robust compensator design. A nominal controller based on the linear quadratic regulation method is designed for the linearized nominal system, whereas a robust compensator is introduced to restrain the influences of the uncertainties. It is shown that the trajectory tracking errors of the closed-loop system are ultimately bounded, and the boundaries can be specified by choosing the controller parameters. Simulation and experimental results on the lab helicopter verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.