Modeling and nonlinear control of 2-DOF helicopter “Quanser Aero2”

Abstract

This work presents the methods for the modeling and control of a 2-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) helicopter, specifically the Quanser Aero 2 system, using four different con- trollers of two types of namely classical control techniques, the Proportional-Derivative (PD), and the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controllers, as well as two nonlinear control techniques namely the sliding mode controller (SMC) and the Super-twisting controller (STC). The four controllers are mainly implemented in order to overcome the problems of control of 2-DOF helicopter systems essentially linked to the non- linearity of the dynamic models. The nonlinear dynamic model of the system is first obtained using Lagrange formalism which is linearized after that for classical control design. The proposed control schemes are then simulated using MATLAB/Simulink and implemented in real-time on the Quanser Aero2 platform. A comparative study follows to evaluate the performance of the designed controllers for both simulation and implementation results.