MPC and LQR type controller design and comparison for an unmanned helicopter

Abstract

For the control of unmanned helicopter, different controllers have been designed in the literature. Model Predictive Control (MPC) was used in process industry for years. But its application to helicopters is new. In this study, six degrees of freedom nonlinear dynamical model of unmanned helicopter is used to control the translatory velocities and angular displacements. Additionally, two different controllers based on MPC and LQR (Linear Quadratic Control) are designed and numerically tested on the open loop unstable helicopter model. Simulation scenarios with different starting conditions are studied in detail and the outputs are compared. Results demonstrated that with equal or less control effort, MPC-type controller became more successful than LQR controller.