Abstract
In this study, we design an autonomous navigation, guidance and control system for a small electric helicopter. Only small, light-weight, and inaccurate sensors can be used for the control of small helicopters because of the payload limitation. To overcome the problem of inaccurate sensors, a composite navigation system is designed. The designed navigation system enables us to precisely obtain the position and velocity of the helicopter. A guidance and control system is designed for stabilizing the helicopter at an arbitrary point in three-dimensional space. In particular, a novel and simple guidance system is designed using the combination of optimal control theory and quaternion kinematics. The designs of the study are validated experimentally, and the experimental results verify the efficiency of our navigation, guidance and control system for a small electric helicopter.
Highlights
In the last decade, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has improved drastically, and UAVs are used in research and development and for various practical purposes such as aerial photography, surveillance and crop dusting
Several researchers have focused on the autonomous control of various types of UAVs such as fixed‐wing UAVs [1] [2], helicopter‐type UAVs [3]‐[7],tilt‐rotor‐type UAVs [8], tail‐ sitter‐type UAVs [9] and airship‐type UAVs [10]
4 Int J Adv Robotic Sy, 2013, Vol 10, 54:2013 www.intechopen.com following dynamics; we introduce it into the process model, and compensate it
Summary
In the last decade, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has improved drastically, and UAVs are used in research and development and for various practical purposes such as aerial photography, surveillance and crop dusting. I1K0a, w54am:2u0r1a3: 1 Autonomous Navigation, Guidance and Control of Small Electric Helicopter compared to large ones, owing to the payload limitation and sensor restriction. In the case of a small helicopter, the accuracy and precision of a small GPS module is not enough for precise hovering and errors are caused in the barometer by down‐wash from the rotor These sensor errors should be compensated complementarily. It is necessary for the autonomous control of a small helicopter to develop an integrated navigation system using multiple sensors. We design an autonomous navigation, guidance and control system for a small electric helicopter. An integrated navigation system that consists of an inertial navigation, small, lightweight GPS module and a barometer are designed to obtain the accurate position and velocity of the helicopter. Source of power Rotor diameter Body length Main rotor speed Weight Payload capacity
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