Forward flight attitude control of unmanned small-scaled gyroplane based on μ-synthesis

In this paper the detailed design process of μ-synthesis for a modified small-scaled unmanned gyroplane is presented. Firstly, a comprehensive nonlinear model of gyroplane is established, which is of inherent instability and with the longitudinal and lateral dynamics highly coupled. Therefore, the design of flight controllers is not straightforward as for the conventional gyroplane. The μ-controller for attitude stabilization is then designed based on the linearized model extracted in forward flight configuration. Finally, a series of computer simulation experiments for performance evaluation are presented, together with a comprehensive analysis of simulation results.