Comparing classical and optimal control of 3D hovering

This paper presents the design, construction, simulation and implementation of a three degree of freedom (DOF) hovering device, 3D-hovering, capable of pitch, roll and yaw direction motion control. The controller employs the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) combined with a Kalman filter. Simulations shows that our proposed controller outperforms the conventional controller in terms of position tracking, speed and stability. Moreover, the system is implemented on a Pentium PC and preliminary simulation results are presented.