Fundamental Modeling and Control of Small and Miniature Unmanned Helicopters

Abstract

In this chapter, the modeling and control system design of unmanned helicopters are introduced. Two types of unmanned helicopters exist today – a single-rotor helicopter and a coaxial-rotor helicopter. In general, small helicopters with weights from 1 to 50 kg use the single-rotor mechanism, while miniature helicopters with weights less than 500 g use the coaxial-rotor mechanism. In this chapter, small and miniature unmanned helicopters are discussed. First, their mathematical models are obtained as a transfer function or state space equation. Subsequently, the optimal control design for the control method for both small and miniature unmanned helicopters is introduced.