Dual-Loop Augmented State-Dependent Riccati Equation Control for a Helicopter Model

Abstract

This paper describes a dual-loop control design for a helicopter model using the statedependent Riccati equation (SDRE) technique. The dual-loop design decouples vehicle dynamics into translational and attitude parts. In the dual-loop design, the outer loop (guidance loop) controller tracks the desired position and velocity of the vehicle and generates desired roll and pitch as inputs for the inner loop controller. The inner loop controller provides the desired attitude tracking. In this paper, both controllers are based on the augmented SDRE approach, which employs means of mitigating effects of vehicle dynamics approximations in the SDRE design. The dual-loop SDRE performance is compared to the full-state single-loop SDRE design, in which the whole system dynamics is manipulated into a state-dependent coefficient form.