A study on MRAC, LQR and MPC controllers for a Vertical Take-off and Landing System

This paper presents the study and analysis of linear, adaptive and predictive controllers for pitch control of Vertical Take-off and Landing System (VTOL). Since VTOL aircraft system is a highly nonlinear system with varying aerodynamic parameters. Adaptive controllers are capable of achieving good performance in the presence of significant parametric uncertainties without the exact knowledge of the plant model. Fixed gain Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controllers are optimal in nature and constrained optimization problems can be easily solved by Model Predictive Controller (MPC). This paper mainly focuses on the modeling of VTOL system and performance analysis of the system with linear, adaptive and predictive controllers.