Real-time stabilization of a small threerotor aircraft

Sergio Salazar (1, 2) , Farid Kendoul (3) , R. Lozano (1, 2) , Isabelle Fantoni (1)

1 Heudiasyc - Heuristique et Diagnostic des Systèmes Complexes [Compiègne]
2 LAFMIA - Laboratoire Franco-Mexicain d'Informatique et d'Automatique
3 RCL - Robotics and Control Laboratory

This paper describes the design and control algorithm of an original configuration for a small aerial vehicle having three rotors with fixed-pitch propellers. The mechanism of forces and moments generation is described and compared with other vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles. A mathematical model of the body-forces generation process as well as the 6-DOF (degree of freedom) krotorcraft dynamics is presented. A stabilization algorithm is proposed which takes into account the input amplitude bounds as well as nonlinear couplings in the three-rotor dynamics. The performance of the control strategy is shown in real-time experiments.

Mots clés: Helicopters; Unmanned aerial vehicles; Sliding mode control; Military aircraft; Aircraft navigation; Rotors; Vehicle dynamics; Linear feedback control systems; Couplings; Algorithm design and analysis

Domaines: Automatique; Automatique / Robotique

Sergio Salazar, Farid Kendoul, R. Lozano, Isabelle Fantoni. Real-time stabilization of a small threerotor aircraft. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 2008, 44 (2), pp.783-794. ⟨10.1109/TAES.2008.4560220⟩. ⟨hal-00449919⟩