Robust Adaptive Integral Backstepping Control of a 3-DOF Helicopter

Unmanned aerial vehicles have enormous potential applications in military and civil fields. A Quanser's 3-DOF helicopter is a simplified and benchmark experimental model for validating the effectiveness of various flight control algorithms. The attitude control of the 3-DOF helicopter is a challenging task since the helicopter is an under-actuated system with strong coupling and model uncertainty characteristics. In this paper, an adaptive integral backstepping algorithm is proposed to realize robust control of the 3-DOF helicopter. The proposed control algorithm can estimate model uncertainties online and improve the robustness of the control system. Simulation and experiment results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm performs well in tracking and under model uncertainties.