Robust feedback control for attitude stabilization of a Rotary-Winged Flying Robot in hover

Abstract

This paper addresses attitude stabilization of a Rotary-Winged Flying Robot (RWFR) in hover. The main objective is to control the dynamic behavior of RWFR. As the physical nature of RWFR is complex in shape and motion, the simple intuitive mathematical modeling fails as the non-linear aerodynamic forces and gravity acts in a non-intuitive manner. Due to limited accuracy of dynamic model, the RWFR attitude dynamics is conditionally stable where a minimum amount of attitude feedback is required for system stability. For attitude compensation with accelerated response, AVCS gyro feedback is necessary to attain a high attitude control bandwidth in response to an attitude reference input. This paper presents RWFR system architecture, provides a detailed analysis of the performance of the controller through closed loop identification and discusses experimental results carried out on Hirobo Scheadu50 model strapped to a test rig with bending flexibility in lateral and longitudinal axes.