Model predictive flight controller for longitudinal and lateral cyclic control of an unmanned helicopter

In this paper, a Model Predictive Control (MPC) based flight control system for a rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle is presented. We have proposed a MPC controller which replaces the widely used inner outer-loop control structure. Reduced order linear model for longitudinal and lateral dynamics of the helicopter is used for controller design. We have enhanced the MPC performance by considering the time-delay in the controller design process and by augmenting the helicopter model with servo dynamics. The inclusion of time-delay yields a smoother control input. The applicability of the proposed MPC scheme is evaluated on a nonlinear simulation model of an unmanned helicopter which illustrates improved performance of the closed-loop system in the presence of time-delay.