Robust Attitude Control of a 3-DOF Helicopter considering Communication Delays

This paper proposed a robust attitude controller design for unmanned helicopter under remote communication delays. Based on dynamical model of helicopter system, Lyapunov-Krasovskii theory is utilized in the stability analysis of proposed attitude controller design. Energy-to-energy strategy is used to ensure the robust performance of proposed controller against remote communication delays as well as payload disturbances. And the controller gains are obtained by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMI). Based on Quanser's laboratory 3-DOF helicopter platform, both simulation and experimental tests are carried out to show the effectiveness and performance of proposed robust attitude controller. Compared with conventional sliding mode controller, the superiority of proposed controller is demonstrated.