Attitude Control of Small Electric Helicopter by Using Quaternion-Feedback(Mechanical Systems)

In this paper, we design a quaternion-based attitude controller for small electric helicopter. Firstly, we derive a MIMO(Multi-Input Multi-Output) nonlinear attitude model of a small helicopter. In this model, we adopt the quaternion for attitude expression. This model consist of three parts, the dynamics of quaternion, the Euler's equation, and the dynamics of main rotor and stabilizer. Secondly, we design a MIMO controller by using backstepping control method which is one of nonlinear control method. The asymptotic stability of the origin of error system is achieved by this controller. Simulation and experiment results show that the nonlinear controller is more effective than linear controller which was used in previous study.