Velocity and heading tracking control for small-scale unmanned helicopters

This paper presents a linear tracking control design technique for small-scale unmanned helicopters. The design objective is for the helicopter to track predefined velocity and heading reference trajectories. The controller design is based on a generic linear model which successfully describes the dynamic behavior of most small-scale helicopters. The flight controller is composed of two distinct output feedback loops of the helicopter's longitudinal/lateral and heading/heave dynamics tracking error. The tracking error is determined using a state generator based on the reference trajectories and their higher derivatives. The state generator can be systematically constructed using the backstepping approach and applying a physically meaningful simplification assumption over the helicopter dynamics. The controller performance was successfully evaluated using a realistic flight simulator.