Nonlinear control of a small four- rotor rotorcraft
Résumé
In this chapter we present two control algorithms to stabilize a small helicopter with four rotors. First, we propose a simple nonlinear controller based on Lyapunov analysis for a Planar Vertical Take Off and Landing aircraft (PVTOL). It is proved that the proposed control scheme is globally asymptotically stable. Second, we present a discrete-time controller based on state feedback and the prediction of the state. It is shown that this controller stabilizes possibly unstable continuous-time delay systems. The stability is shown to be robust with respect to uncertainties in the knowledge on the plant parameters, the system delay and the sampling period. Both results have been experimentally tested in a laboratory prototype. Real-time experiments show a satisfactory performance of the proposed controls schemes.