Full state control of a Fury X-Cell unmanned helicopter

Date
2009-03
Authors
Van Schalkwyk, Carlo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
Abstract
This thesis describes the successful development of an autopilot for an unmanned radio controlled helicopter. It presents a non-linear helicopter model. An adaptive linearised model is derived and used to design a controller. The adaptive full state controller is tested in various ways, including two aerobatic manoeuvres. A number of analyses are performed on the controller, including its robustness to parameter changes, noisy estimates, wind and processing power. The controller is compared with a non-adaptive counterpart, which leads to the conception, design and analysis of a much improved control structure. Practical flight test results are presented and analysed. In some instances available literature was reworked and re-derived to produce a genericmodel-controller package that can easily be adapted for helicopters of any make, model and size.
Description
Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
Keywords
Theses -- Electrical and electronic engineering, Dissertations -- Electrical and electronic engineering
Citation