Feedback linearization of the nonlinear model of a small-scale helicopter

In order to design a nonlinear controller for small-scale autonomous helicopters, the dynamic characteristics of a model helicopter are investigated, and an integrated nonlinear model of a small-scale helicopter for hovering control is presented. It is proved that the nonlinear system of the small-scale helicopter can be transformed to a linear system using the dynamic feedback linearization technique. Finally, simulations are carried out to validate the nonlinear controller.

A STUDY ON MECHANICAL MODEL OF THE HELICOPTER "GROUND RESONANCE

The key problem to the calculation and optimization design of the helicopter 'Ground Resonance' is to correctly build up a mechanical model. In the past, the literature was only concerned with the lag modes of the rotor blade and the flap modes were neglected. But such approaches should be reconsidered now. In order to study the influences of rotating multiblades rotor on the degrees of freedom and also the flap ''Ground Resonance' of a helicopter, it is necessary to consider not only the lag degrees of freedom but also the flap degrees of freedom. Using Lagrangian equation a dynamical equation of the space model for helicopter 'Ground Resonance'is deduced for the first time. Some computation results show that the mechanical model including both lag DOF and flap DOF is more reasonable.

Study of helicopter autorotation landing following engine failure based on a six-degree-of-freedom rigid-body dynamic model

This paper focuses on the prediction of the safe autorotation landing operations of a helicopter following engine failure.The autorotation landing procedure is formulated as a nonlinear optimal control problem based on an augmented six-degree-of-freedom rigid-body flight dynamic model.First,the cost function and constraints are properly selected.The direct transcription approach is then employed to solve the optimal control problem.For a UH-60 helicopter,the optimal solutions with the rigid-body model are compared with those obtained using a two-dimensional point-mass model.It is found that the optimal solutions using the two different models show reasonably good agreement,and furthermore the optimal solutions using the rigid-body model involve the time histories of angular rates and attitudes,lateral velocity and position,as well as pitch controls.Finally the optimal control formulations with different cost functions are proposed for taking account of 1-s time delay and minimum touchdown speed.The calculated control strategies and trajectories are realistic.

Identification method for helicopter flight dynamics modeling with rotor degrees of freedom

A comprehensive method based on system identification theory for helicopter flight dynamics modeling with rotor degrees of freedom is developed. A fully parameterized rotor flapping equation for identification purpose is derived without using any theoretical model, so the confidence of the identified model is increased, and then the 6 degrees of freedom rigid body model is extended to 9 degrees of freedom high-order model. Bode sensitivity function is derived to increase the accuracy of frequency spectra calculation which influences the accuracy of model parameter identification. Then a frequency domain identification algorithm is established. Acceleration technique is developed furthermore to increase calculation efficiency, and the total identification time is reduced by more than 50% using this technique. A comprehensive two-step method is established for helicopter high-order flight dynamics model identification which increases the numerical stability of model identification compared with single step algorithm. Application of the developed method to identify the flight dynamics model of BO 105 helicopter based on flight test data is implemented. A comparative study between the high-order model and rigid body model is performed at last. The results show that the developed method can be used for helicopter high-order flight dynamics model identification with high accuracy as well as efficiency, and the advantage of identified high-order model is very obvious compared with low-order model.

A New Hybrid Control Scheme for an Integrated Helicopter and Engine System

A new hybrid control scheme is presented with a robust multiple model fusion control（RMMFC） law for a UH-60 helicopter and an active disturbance rejection control（ADRC） controller for its engines.This scheme is a control design method with every subsystem designed separately but fully considering the couplings between them.With three subspaces with respect to forward flight velocity,a RMMFC is proposed to devise a four-loop reference signal tracing control for the helicopter,which escapes the closed-loop system from unstable state due to the extreme complexity of this integrated nonlinear system.The engines are controlled by the proposed ADRC decoupling controller,which fully takes advantage of a good compensation ability for unmodeled dynamics and extra disturbances,so as to compensate torque disturbance in power turbine speed loop.By simulating a forward acceleration flight task,the RMMFC for the helicopter is validated.It is apparent that the integrated helicopter and engine system（IHES） has much better dynamic performance under the new control scheme.Especially in the switching process,the large transient is significantly weakened,and smooth transition among candidate controllers is achieved.Over the entire simulation task,the droop of power turbine speed with the proposed ADRC controller is significantly slighter than with the conventional PID controller,and the response time of the former is much faster than the latter.By simulating a rapid climb and descent flight task,the results also show the feasibility for the application of the proposed multiple model fusion control.Although there is aggressive power demand in this maneuver,the droop of power turbine speed with an ADRC controller is smaller than using a PID controller.The control performance for helicopter and engine is enhanced by adopting this hybrid control scheme,and simulation results in other envelope state give proofs of robustness for this new scheme.