Sliding mode tracking control for miniature unmanned helicopters

Abstract A sliding mode control design for a miniature unmanned helicopter is presented. The control objective is to let the helicopter track some predefined velocity and yaw trajectories. A new sliding mode control design method is developed based on a linearized dynamic model. In order to facilitate the control design, the helicopter’s dynamic model is divided into two subsystems, such as the longitudinal-lateral and the heading-heave subsystem. The proposed controller employs sliding mode control technique to compensate for the immeasurable flapping angles’ dynamic effects and external disturbances. The global asymptotic stability (GAS) of the closed-loop system is proved by the Lyapunov based stability analysis. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the proposed controller can achieve superior tracking performance compared with the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) and linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) cascaded controller in the presence of wind gust disturbances.