Nonlinear Modeling, Identification and Control for a Simulated Miniature Helicopter

This work presents the nonlinear modeling of a small-scale helicopter and the identification of its thirty two parameters using prediction error minimization methods. The proposed model intends to be simple enough to be used in classical control design and accurate enough to represent rotorcraft dynamics in several different non acrobatic flight modes, to the contrary of the best-known models that work well only in hover flight mode. A PID controller design is also presented using a feedfoward gain of the disturbance in the yaw controller, which could reduce significantly the influence of the collective angle variation in the yaw movement. The procedures of data collection and performance evaluation of the controllers were fulfilled using the dynamic simulator and viewer Helisim 2.0 which uses a more complex and accurate model. The results were quite satisfactory both in system identification and control.