Low cost controller for small scale helicopter

Abstract

This paper describes the design of a take-oil' and hover controller for a co-axial dual rotor helicopter in which the helicopter is required to track a predetermined trajectory in 3D space and a reference constant yaw value. Low cost sensors(i.e accelerometer and gyroscope) and an oil' the shelf toy co-axial rotor helicopter is used. The non-linear model of a toy co-axial helicopter is derived using Newtonian mechanics. A non-linear controller is designed using the non-linear backstepping technique to ensure global asymptotic stability of the helicopter translational and attitude error dynamics. Inertial navigation using Kalman filtering is employed to provide estimates of the helicopter position and orientation. Simulations of the designed controller showed successful trajectory tracking and hovering of the helicopter with a maximum tracking error of less than 0.2m. Experimental testing of the controller showed relative success with drift being experienced due to sensor errors.