Adaptive failure compensation for coaxial rotor helicopter under propeller failure

This paper proposes an adaptive controller to provide for failure compensation for a coaxial rotor helicopter. It addresses the problem of instability due to damage to the rotors in a coaxial rotor helicopter, where degradation of or unexpected variations in thrust from the propellers are known to pose an especially serious risk. The key problems arising out of a situation of propeller failure are identified. A detailed description of the model of the coaxial rotor helicopter is provided, and a control scheme for the same is chosen. The problem of instability along the yaw and altitude axis for coaxial rotor helicopters under propeller failure is modeled. Finally, a suitable adaptive control scheme is proposed to stabilize the helicopter's states under propeller failure. Simulation results demonstrate that the adaptive control scheme is successful in stabilizing the aircraft in the event of damage.