Trajectory tracking control of a small unmanned helicopter using MPC and backstepping

A hierarchical inner-outer loop-based controller is proposed to solve the trajectory tracking problem of a small unmanned helicopter. The outer loop employs model predictive controller to track the reference trajectory, while the inner loop controller is designed by means of backstepping techniques that allow the stabilization of the attitude. The obtained control method takes advantage of both controllers and it is simple and easy to implement and tune in future real flight test. Finally, the computer simulations are conducted to illustrate the tracking performance of the proposed control method.