J Control Theory Appl 2010 8 (3) 301308

DOI 10.1007/s11768-010-0017-8

Feedback linearization of the nonlinear model of

a small-scale helicopter
Baoquan SONG 1 , Yunhui LIU 2 , Caizhi FAN 1
(1.College of Electronic Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha Hunan 410073, China;
2.Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract: In order to design a nonlinear controller for small-scale autonomous helicopters, the dynamic character-
istics of a model helicopter are investigated, and an integrated nonlinear model of a small-scale helicopter for hovering
control is presented. It is proved that the nonlinear system of the small-scale helicopter can be transformed to a linear
system using the dynamic feedback linearization technique. Finally, simulations are carried out to validate the nonlinear
controller.
Keywords: Feedback linearization; Nonlinear model; Model helicopter

1 Introduction ing the couplings between rolling/pitching moments and

In the rotorcraft community, simple linear models and lin-
ear controller design techniques are most commonly used
for ight controller design [1]. However, since the rotor-
craft suffers strong external disturbance, its linear models
are valid only in the vicinity of an operating point, and the
designed controller is constrained to small-amplitude ma-
neuvers. To deal with this problem, many robust controller
design techniques are proposed and applied to designing the
ight control system in the rotorcraft community [25].
The other way is to develop the nonlinear control tech-
niques, which is highly demanded for aerospace problems
in general because of the wide range of ight conditions
encountered [68]. For a wide class of nonlinear dynamic
systems, the feedback linearization with state feedback pro-
vides a direct method for designing the nonlinear controller.
In the nonlinear afne system, the static feedback lineariza-
tion problem was solved by Jakubczyk and Respondek [9]
and, independently, by Hunt and Su [10]. References [11]
and [12] give a complete solution to the dynamic input-
output decoupling issue and [12] provides a constructive al-
gorithmic solution for dynamic input-output decoupling.
For a small-scale model helicopter system, for its com-
plex dynamics, it is challenging to develop a nonlinear
model that is sufciently accurate and simple for practical
controller design. Many researchers have tried to model and
control the small-scale helicopter by the nonlinear control
techniques [6, 8, 1315]. Cai et. al implemented an auto-
matic control law on the actual UAV helicopter using the
composite nonlinear feedback control method [16]. Then,
they set up a more accurate model for the yaw channel
of the helicopter and designed an efcient control law us-
ing the same technique [15]. The fact that the nonlinear
model of the helicopter cannot be converted into a con-
trollable linear system via exact state feedback lineariza-
tion is proved by Koo and Sastry [8]. Then, by neglect-
lateral/longitudinal forces, they showed that the approxi-
mated system can be linearized by the feedback lineariza-
tion technique. In [14], the attitude and translational dynam-
ics were input-state feedback linearized using dynamic in-
version, and then, an adaptive controller for an autonomous
helicopter using a neural network as the adaptive element
was developed to minimize the effect of nonlinear paramet-
ric uncertainty arising from approximate inversion. How-
ever, [6] and [8] did not model the rotor apping dynamics,
which is one of the key dynamic characteristics. Although
Kim and Tilbury [13] studied the dynamics of the stabilizer
bar, which is typically used on the model helicopters, only
simple SISO linear systems were identied. Furthermore,
for the autonomous helicopter controller design, few refer-
ences take into account the induced inow dynamics, which
has found utility for various problems in rotor aeroelasticity
and helicopter ight dynamics [17, 18].
In our previous work, we studied the nonlinear attitude
system and control of the model helicopter on the test bench
and proved that the attitude subsystem can be linearized
by the dynamic feedback linearization technique [19, 20].
Then, the key characteristics of the model helicopter were
studied in [21], and we proved that the simplied attitude-
heave subsystem, in which the angular velocity cross prod-
uct is ignored, can be transformed to linear system by the
dynamic feedback linearization technique [21]. In this pa-
per, the nonlinear model of a small-scale helicopter inte-
grating the rotors apping dynamics and the inow dynam-
ics is presented. Using the dynamic feedback linearization
technique, it is proved that the attitude-heave subsystem,
without ignoring the angular velocity cross product, can be
linearized, while the zero dynamics of the small-scale he-
licopter is inherently stable. Through deriving the relation-
ship between the horizon motion and the attitude dynamics,
the fact that the full nonlinear system of the small-scale he-
licopter can be feedback linearized is proved.

Received 19 January 2010.

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.60975023).

c South China University of Technology and Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, CAS and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010
302 B. SONG et al. / J Control Theory Appl 2010 8 (3) 301308
This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the
nonlinear model of the small-scale helicopter near hover-
ing. In Section 3, it is proved that the nonlinear system can
be linearized by the dynamic feedback linearization tech-
nique. Section 4 presents the simulation results of the pro-
posed controller. Finally, Section 5 concludes the work.
2 Nonlinear model of the small-scale heli-
copter
The plant in our work is HIROBO Shuttle Pluse model
helicopter. The fuselage is modeled as a rigid body with six
DOFs shown in Fig.1. Point C is the center of mass of the
fuselage, Points M and T are the attachment points of
the main rotor hub and tail rotor hub, respectively. T m and
T t are the lifts generated by the main rotor and tail rotor,
respectively.
Fig. 1 Geometry of a small-scale model helicopter.
The position of the model helicopter is parameterized by
(x, y, z), and its attitude is parameterized by Euler angles
with , , and about the axes x, y, z, respectively. The
body angular velocity vector is = (p, q, r)T . The rotation
matrix from the body-xed coordinate frame Cxyz to the
inertial coordinate frame OXY Z is denoted as
cc ssc cs csc + ss
RIF = cs sss + cc css sc , (1)
s sc cc
where c, s are abbreviations for cos and sin , respec-
tively, and similarly for the other terms. RFI = (RIF )T is
the rotation matrix from frame OXY Z to frame Cxyz.
It is reasonable that the rotor does not apply reaction
forces back to the actuators, because the moment required to
rotate the blade around the feathering axis is small [13]. For
most ight mechanics analysis, the presence of lead-lag mo-
tion contributes little to the overall response and stability of
the helicopter [17]. Thus, the effects of the blades torsional
dynamics and the lead-lag dynamics are ignored, while the
rotors ap dynamics will be discussed.
The speed is small when the helicopter is near hovering
in a windless condition. Furthermore, the small-scale heli-
copter considered in this work is small, so in the modeling
and control of the small-scale helicopter, the air resistance
can be neglected.
2.1 Forces and moments
For calculating the forces and moments, it is sufcient
to consider only the behavior of the rotor as a whole [22].
The loss of thrust near the blade tips, or tip loss, amounts
to about 4.5% of the total thrust [22]. Furthermore, there is
about a 3% induced power increase due to the tip loss, as
well as the root cutout effect on the induced power is small
compared to the tip loss effect [23]. Therefore, the tip loss
and root cutout are ignored here.
For our model helicopter, the main rotor is a two-bladed
teetering rotor. The airfoil of the main blade is a rigid thin
rectangle with no twist. There is a damper rubber in the
main rotor holder, which is modeled as a center-spring,
whose spring constant is denoted as K . The center-spring
representation is quite adequate for describing the apping
behavior of the teetering rotor under a wide range of condi-
tions [17].
The blade pitch angle m of the main rotor (positive when
above the reference plane) is periodic around the azimuth ,
m = 0m Am 1 cos B1 sin ,
m
(2)
where 0 is the collective pitch angle, which is controlled
m
by the servo motor; Am 1 and B1 are the longitudinal and
m
lateral cyclic pitch angle, which is controlled by the swash-
plate and the stabilizer bar; = t is azimuth angular po-
sition of blade; and is the main rotor angular velocity.
Based on the blade element theory, for vertical ight or
hovering, the average value of the thrust coefcient is
m
CT = k1 ( 0 ), (3)
3 2
where k1 = Cl /2, is the rotor solidity, and Cl is the
slope of the blade two-dimensional lift curve. = f s + 0
is the total average inow, 0 is the average induced inow,
and f s = w/(R), where w is the climb velocity in the
xed frame Cxyz,
w = (0, 0, 1)RFI (x,
y,
z)
T. (4)
The main rotor lift is T m = k2 CT , where k2 =
(R2 ) 2 R2 , is the density of air, and R is the main rotor
radius.
The main rotor torque is approximated as a sum of in-
duced torque and prole torque:
CQ = C T + Cd0 , (5)
8
where CQ is the rotor torque coefcient, Cd0 is the mean
drag coefcient. The rotor torque is
m + k4 ,
Q = (R2 ) 2 R3 CQ  k3 T
where k3 = R and k4 = (R2 ) 2 R3 Cd0 /8.
In this paper, the induced inow dynamics is modeled
based on the nonlinear Pitt/Peter model [24], which was
found to give the best representation of the inow gradient
as functions of wake skew angle and advance ratio when
compared to the experimental evidence [25]. However, it is
still complicated for controller analysis and design. Here,
we assume that the induced inow has the uniform distri-
bution, and hence, we study the dynamics of the average
induced inow 0 . If it is windless, for the vertical ight
or hovering, based on the Pitt/Peter model, the average in-
 B. SONG et al. / J Control Theory Appl 2010 8 (3) 301308 303

duced inow dynamics is rst-order tip-path-plane (TPP) equations of the teetering

0 = 2k5 0 (f s + 0 ) + k5 CT , (6) rotor are produced (see [1] and [26] for details):
m


m

where k5 = 3/8. a 1 q k23 k24 a1

=
For the typical model helicopter, there is an angular vec- b m
1 p k 24 k23 bm1
tor control system (AVCS) gyro used on the tail rotor to sta-
m

k26 k25 A1
bilize the yaw axis through negative feedback of the heading + , (11)
rate r. The AVCS generates an angular velocity propor- k25 k26 B1m
tional to the rudder control signal. Based on the discussion where
in [21], the tail rotor thrust is simply modeled as 4K 32K
k23 = Krm (8 + m 2 ), k24 = Krm ( m m 2 m ),
T t = k6 Q k7 tail + k8 r, (7) I I
where k6 = 1/l3 , k7 , and k8 are the parameters of the AVCS m
gyro, and tail is the input of the tail rotor system that is con- k25 = 8Krm , k26 = Krm m , Krm = m 2 ,
( ) + 64
trolled by the servo motor.
Im is the inertia of the main rotor, and m is the main rotor
In the fuselage coordinate frame Cxyz, the external mo-
lock number.
ment components are
The stabilizer bar can be regarded as the secondary teeter-
Mx = (k9 T + k10 )b1 + k11 T ,
m m t
ing rotor. It receives cyclic inputs cyc s
from the swashplate
M = (k9 T m + k10 )am 1 k12 T ,
m (8) in a manner similar to that of the main blades.
y
Mz = Q k12 T b1 k13 T ,
m m t
cyc
s
= As1 cos B1s sin , (12)
where k9 = l1 , k10 = K , k11 = l4 , k12 = l2 , k13 = l3 , l1 , where A1 and B1 are the longitudinal and lateral cyclic
s s
l2 , l3 , and l4 are the geometric parameters of the fuselage pitch angle of the stabilizer bar.
(refer to Fig.1), am 1 and b1 are the longitudinal and lateral
m
Similar to the main rotor, the simplied apping equation
apping angles of the main rotor disk, respectively (refer to of the stabilizer bar is
Section 2.3). s


s

a 1 q k27 k28 a1
=
2.2 Attitude dynamics b s1 p k28 k27 bs1
The kinematics of rotation is
s

k k27 A1
= q sin sec + r cos sec  f1 , + 28 , (13)
k27 k28 B1s
= q cos r sin  f2 , (9)
where as1 and bs1 are the longitudinal and lateral tilting an-
= p + q sin tan + r cos tan  f3 .
gle of the stabilizer rotor, respectively, k27 = 8Krs , k28 =
Based on Euler equation, the attitude dynamic equation s
of the fuselage is IC = (Mx , My , Mz )T (IC ), Krs s , Krs = , s is the stabilizer rotor lock
( s )2 + 64
I1 0 I4 number.
where IC  0 I2 0 is the inertia matrix about the The cyclic pitch angle cyc of the swashplate (positive
I4 0 I3 when above the reference plane) is
body-xed frame. Thus, cyc ( ) = a cos b sin , (14)

p = k14 pq + k15 qr + k19 Mx + k22 Mz  f4 , where a and b are the longitudinal and lateral tilting angle
q = k16 (p2 r2 ) + k17 pr + k20 My  f5 , (10) of the swashplate, respectively, which are controlled by the
servo motors.
r = k18 pq k14 qr + k22 Mx + k21 Mz  f6 ,
As the response of a mechanical system is much faster
where than the aerodynamics and the operating ranges of the me-
(I2 I1 I3 )I4 I2 I3 I32 I42 chanical devices (such as swashplate and the Bell/Hiller
k14 = , k 15 = ,
I1 I3 I42 I1 I3 I42 mixer) are small, it is suitable that the mechanical device
I4 I3 I1 I 2 + I42 I1 I2 in the helicopter system is regarded as the immediate syn-
k16 = , k17 = , k18 = 1 , chronous transfer mechanism and is simply modeled as the
I2 I2 I1 I3 I42
linear equation when designing the ight controller. Based
I3 1
k19 = , k20 = , on the structure of the Bell/Hiller mechanism, for the stabi-
I1 I3 I42 I2 lizer blade, the cyclic pitch angle that is caused by the tilting
I1 I4 swashplate is simply modeled as
k21 = , k22 = .
I1 I3 I42 I1 I3 I42 As1 = kcyc
s
b, B1s = kcyc s
a, (15)
2.3 Flapping dynamics of the main rotor and stabilizer where kcyc is the ratio of the gear between the stabilizer bar
s
bar and the swashplate.
In our model helicopter, the two blades, which are at- Although the stabilizer bar does not produce any signi-
tached to the shaft by a single apping hinge, form a single cant force or moment on the hub, it affects the cyclic pitch
teetering structure. The equations can be derived with suf- command of the main rotor via the Bell/Hiller mixer. The
cient accuracy by assuming that lagging and feathering mo- main blade receives both the cyclic pitch command from
tion do not occur, when considering apping motion [22]. the tilting swashplate and a component imposed by the sta-
Under the simplifying assumptions in [26], the following bilizer bar that is proportional to the apping angle of the
304 B. SONG et al. / J Control Theory Appl 2010 8 (3) 301308

stabilizer bar, In the above equation, k1 , , k28 are parameters, and

Am most of them cannot be directly measured. The unknown
1 = kcyc b + ks b1 , B1 = (kcyc a + ks a1 ), (16)
m m s m m m s
parameters in the dynamic model are estimated from the
where kcyc and ks are the geometric parameters of the
m m
ight-test data using the nonlinear least squares optimiza-
Bell/Hiller mechanism. tion algorithm. Figures 4 and 5 in [21] compared the empir-
By substituting (16) into (11), we can have the following ical data and the simulated data from the proposed nonlinear
apping equation of the main rotor: model.
m


m

a 1 q k23 k24 a1
=
b m
1 p k k
24 23 bm1
3 Feedback linearization of the nonlinear

s
model
k25 k26 a
+ks
m 1 When taking the model helicopter off the ground, the pi-
k26 k25 bs1 lot usually trims its roll and pitch attitude rst, then moves

k25 k26 a the tail to the desired orientation, and nally rises it up.
+kcyc
m
. (17) From the ight experience of the pilot, it can be seen that
k26 k25 b
the helicopter exhibits strong coupling between the heave
By substituting (15) into (13), the apping equation of dynamics and the yaw dynamics, as well as the strong cou-
the stabilizer rotor is pling between the longitudinal and lateral dynamics. How-
s


s

a 1 q k27 k28 a1 ever, the heave dynamics and the yaw dynamics have rela-
bs = tively small effect on the roll attitude and pitch attitude. This
1 p k28 k27 bs1


structural characteristic of the model helicopter gives us in-
k27 k28 a spiration to design the controller in the following way: ini-
+kcyc
s
. (18)
k28 k27 b tially, we feedback linearize the heave dynamics, then com-
pensate for the yaw dynamics, and nally decouple the roll
2.4 Simplied nonlinear model for controller design and pitch dynamics.
For hovering, the air resistance is ignored because am 1 3.1 Feedback linearization of the attitude-heave sub-
and bm 1 are small, and the small side-forces T a1 and
m m
system
(T m bm1 T ) are not designed to act as the lifts that con-
t

trol the helicopter moving. Therefore, they are usually ig- In this section, we only consider one subset of the dy-
nored [6,8]. Thus, in the inertial coordinate frame OXY Z, namic model of the small-scale helicopter: the heave and
the dynamic equation of the fuselage is attitude dynamics. The output vector of the subsystem is
Y1 = (z, , , )T , and the inputs (actuators) are 0m , tail ,
(
x, y, z)T = RIF (0, 0, T m /m)T + (0, 0, g)T , (19) a, b.
where m is the mass of the helicopter, and g is the gravity Theorem 1 If all states can be observed and all inputs
acceleration. are unlimited, then the attitude-heave subsystem of the non-
In summary, (19), (6), (9), (10), (17), and (18) constitute linear model in Section 2.4 can be linearized via state feed-
the full nonlinear model for designing the small-scale heli- back.
copter ight controller. Proof The theorem is proved by two steps. The st step
is to transform the nonlinear subsystem to a linear system

x = T m (cos sin cos + sin sin )/m,

via states feedback, and then, the second step proves that its

y = T (cos sin sin sin cos )/m,
m

zero dynamics is stable.

z = g + T m (cos cos )/m,

Based on (19), the heave dynamics is z = g +

0 = 2k5 0 (f s + 0 ) + k5 CT , Tm

cos cos . Let z = 11 , 11 = 12 , 12 = 13 , and

= q sin sec + r cos sec , m



13 = u1 , where 11 , 12 , 13 are the dynamic states, and u1

= q cos r sin ,




= p + q sin tan + r cos tan , is the rst nominal input. Then, for = and = , T m
2 2



p = k14 pq + k15 qr + k19 Mx + k22 Mz , becomes



q = k16 (p2 r2 ) + k17 pr + k20 My , T m = m sec sec (g + 11 ). (21)


r = k pq k14 qr + k22 Mx + k21 Mz , Therefore, based on (3), the actuator 0m can be solved:
m
18

m
(20)

a 1 = q k23 k24 a1

g + 11 3
b 1
p k24 k23 bm 0m = 3m sec sec + .
m (22)



1
k1 k2 2

k25 k26 as1

+ ksm
From (9), the second-order derivative of can be solved:

k k bs

26 25
1

k25 k26 a = f1 f2 tan + f2 f3 sec + f5 sin sec

+ kcyc
m
,

k k b +f6 cos sec . (23)



26 25

a s1 q k27 k28 as1

Let = 2 and 2 = u2 , where 2 is the dynamic state,

s =
b1
p k28 k27 bs and u2 is the second nominal input. Then, f6 becomes



1

k27 k28 a f6 = (2 cos f1 f2 sin f2 f3 ) sec f5 tan .

+ kcyc
s
.
k28 k27 b (24)
 B. SONG et al. / J Control Theory Appl 2010 8 (3) 301308 305

Substituting (7), (8), (21), and (24) into (10) results in the There are three internal states: 0 , as1 , and bs1 . Here, the
actuator tail as follows: zero dynamics of 0 becomes 0 = 2k5 20 + k5 mg/k2 .
f6 k21 Q k18 pq + k14 qr Obviously, it is stable.
tail = (k6 Q + k8 r + m
k13 k21 k11 k22 Since a m
1 = b1 = 0, from (17), a and b are solved:
[ (k9 k22 k12 k21 )T m +k10 k22 ]bm

1
m

1
)/k7 . (25) a 1 k25 k26 k23 k24 a
1
k13 k21 k11 k22 = m bm
b kcyc k26 k25 k24 k23 1
For the pitch attitude and roll attitude, the second-order

derivatives are ks
m
as1
m . (33)
= f1 f3 cos + f5 cos f6 sin , (26) kcyc bs1
= f1 f2 sec + f2 f3 tan + f4 + f5 sin tan Therefore, substituting (33) into (18) leads to the follow-
+f6 cos tan . (27) ing zero dynamics of as1 and bs1 :
s
m
s

By substituting (24) into (27), we have the second-order a 1 ks k27 k28 a1

= (1 + k s
)
derivative of : b s1 kcyc
cyc m
k28 k27 bs1
= f1 f2 cos + 2 sin + f4 .

1
(28) kcyc
s
k27 k28 k25 k26
The third-order time derivatives of and are solved + m
kcyc k28 k27 k26 k25
based on (26) and (28), respectively,
m

(3)

m
k23 k24 a
1
f10 a 1 bm . (34)
= + A 1 m , (29) k24 k23 1
(3) f11 b1

The eigenvalues of the above zero dynamics are
A1{11} 0 ksm
where A1 = , referring to Appendix 1 for
A1{21} A1{22} (1 + kcyc
s
)(k27 k28 i)
kcyc
m
details.
Substituting (17) into (29) leads to ks
m

(3)


= (1 + kcyc
s
)K s (8 s i). (35)
k25 k26 a kcyc r
m
= B1 + kcyc A1
m
, (30) Since kcyc
s
, kcyc
m
, ks
m
, and Krs are the positive geometric
(3) k26 k25 b



m
and physical parameters of the small-scale helicopter, for
f q k23 k24 a1
where B1 = 10 A1 + + the zero dynamics, the real parts of its eigenvalues are nega-
f11 p k24 k23 bm tive. Consequently, the zero dynamics of the attitude-heave

s
1
k25 k26 a1 subsystem is stable, i.e., the second step is proved. Then,
A1 ks
m
. Theorem 1 is proved.
k26 k25 bs1
3.2 Feedback linearization of the full nonlinear model
Obviously, both the matrix A1 (assuming = ) and the

2 For the full nonlinear system of the small-scale model
k25 k26 helicopter, the output vector is Y = (x, y, z, )T , and the
matrix are invertible. If we set ( , (3) )T =
(3)
k26 k25 inputs are 0m , tail , a, and b.
(u3 , u4 )T , where u3 and u4 are the nominal inputs, then the Theorem 2 If all states can be observed and all inputs
actuators a and b are solved as follows: are unlimited, then the nonlinear model in Section 2.4 can


1 
be linearized via state feedback.
a 1 k25 k26 1 u3
= m A1 B1 . (31) Proof Theorem 1 has proved that the outputs (z, ,
b kcyc k26 k25 u4 , )T can be decoupled. From (19) and (1), the outputs
Finally, the following linearized system is obtained: (x, y) are mainly dominated by (, ). Therefore, if the re-
z (5) = u1 , (3) = u2 , (3) = u3 , (3) = u4 . (32) lationship between (x, y) and ((3) , (3) ) can be found, then
the full nonlinear system can be linearized.
Although the rst step is proved, it is not sufcient to Denote Y2 = (x, y)T , substituting (21) into (19) leads to
claim that the nonlinear system can be linearized by the dy-

cos sin tan

namic feedback linearization technique if the stability of its Y2 = (g + 11 ) , (36)
zero dynamics is not checked. The zero dynamics of a non- sin cos tan sec
linear system is its internal dynamics subject to the con- and denote
straint that the outputs and all derivatives of the outputs are

cos sin tan

set to zero for all time, i.e., Y1 = Y 1 = Y1 = Y1 = 0. It B2 = (g + 11 ) , A2 = .
(3)
sin cos tan sec
implies that
z = = = = 0, w = p = q = r = 0, Thus,
(3)
p = q = r = 0, Tm = mg, Y2 = B2(1) A2 + B2 A(1)
2 ,

k12 Tm
(4) (2) (1) (1) (2)
Y2 = B2 A2 + 2B2 A2 + B2 A2 ,
= k3 mg mg + k4 , a
(37)
Q m
1 = ,
(5)
k9 Tm + k10
(3) (2) (1) (1) (2) (3)
2k2 Y2 = B2 A2 + 3B2 A2 +3B2 A2 +B2 A2 .
Q The details of the above equations are presented in Ap-
bm = , a m m
1 = b1 = 0.
1
(k9 k13 k11 k12 )Tm +k10 k13 pendix 2.
306 B. SONG et al. / J Control Theory Appl 2010 8 (3) 301308

x, y)T = Y2 (refer to (36)), (x(3) , y (3) )T = Y2 ,

(3)
The derivative of A2 can be written as where (

(1) f (4)
(x(4) , y (4) )T = Y2 (refer to (37)), and K0P = 70, K1P =
A2 = A3 2 , (38)
f3 100, K2P = 60, K3P = 25, K4P = 5.

For the yaw subdynamics, the feedback linearized sys-
sec2 0
where A3 = , and thus, tem is a third-order linear system, and the state feedback
sec tan tan sec sec2 controller is

(1) f2 (2)
(2)
A2 = A3 + A3 (2) , u2 = K0Y K1Y f1 K2Y 2 , (44)
f
3
(2)
(3)
(39)

f where
A2 = A3
(3) (2) 2
+2A3
(1)
+A3 (3) .
f3 (2) K0Y = 160, K1Y = 88, K2Y = 14.
Therefore, substituting (39) into (37) results in the fth-
order derivative of Y2 as follows: The simulated responses of the regulator system are
(3)
shown in Figs.2 to 4. It can be seen that input-output is de-
(5)
Y2 = B3 + B2 A3 (3) , (40) coupled, and every element of the outputs exhibits a linear
response, and the internal states are stable.
where
(3) (2) (1) (1) (2)
B3 = B2 A2 + (3B2 A3 + 3B2 A3 + B2 A3 )
(1) (1)
(f2 , f3 )T + (3B2 A3 + 2B2 A3 )((2) , (2) )T .
Substituting (30) into (40) leads to

(5) k25 k26 a

Y2 = B3 + B2 A3 B1 + kcyc m
B2 A3 A1 .
k26 k25 b
(41)
If g + 11 = 0, B2 is invertible. In fact, g + 11 = 0
means T m = 0, which should be avoided when the heli-

copter is piloted. For = and = , A3 is invertible
2 2
too.
(5)
Let Y2 = (u3 , u4 ) , where u3 and u4 are the nominal
T

inputs, and then, the actuators a and b are solved: Fig. 2 Outputs response of the regulator system.


1
a 1 k25 k26
= m A1 1 1
1 A3 B2
b kcyc k26 k25
 u

3
B3 B2 A3 B1 . (42)
u4
Finally, the nonlinear system is linearized as
x(5) = u3 , y (5) = u4 , z (5) = u1 , (3) = u2 . (43)
Similar to the proof of Theorem 1, it is easy to prove that
the zero dynamics of the full nonlinear model is stable, and
thus, the full nonlinear model can be feedback linearized.

4 Simulation results
A simulation platform is set up using the MATLAB
Simulink R Fig. 3 Internal states of the regulator system.
software in order to test the proposed controller.
In this simulation work, the objective is to hover the heli-
copter at the origin: xd = yd = zd = d = 0, assuming the
initial states:

x0 = 2, y0 = 2, z 0 = 3, 0 = 1,
0 = 0 = 0, 0 = mg/(2k2 ),

p0 = q0 = r0 = 0, am 1 = b1 = a1 = b1 = 0.
m s s

For the position subdynamics, the feedback linearized

system is a fth-order linear system, and the state feedback
controller is

u1 = K0 z K1 vz K2 11 K3 12 K4 13 ,
P P P P P

u = K0 x K1 vx K2 x
P P P
K3 x K4 x ,
P (3) P (4)
3
u4 = K0 y K1 vy K2 y K3P y (3) K4P y (4) ,
P P P Fig. 4 Actuator response of the regulator system.
 B. SONG et al. / J Control Theory Appl 2010 8 (3) 301308 307

5 Conclusions [18] R. T. N. Chen. A survey of nonuniform inow models for rotorcraft

This paper addressed the nonlinear control of a small- ight dynamics and control applications[J]. Vertica, 1990, 14(2): 147
184.
scale model helicopter. Based on its dynamic characteris-
tics, an integrated nonlinear model of the small-scale heli- [19] B. Song, J. K. Mills, Y. Liu, et al. Nonlinear dynamic modeling
copter for hovering control is developed. It is demonstrated and control of a small-scale helicopter[J]. International Journal of
Control, Automation, and Systems, 2010, 8(3): 534 543.
that the full nonlinear model can be converted into a con-
trollable linear system via the dynamic feedback lineariza- [20] B. Song, J. K. Mills, H. Huang, et al. Nonlinear robust control of
a small-scale helicopter on a test bench[J]. International Journal of
tion technique. Then, the state feedback controller was sim-
Control, 2010, 83(4): 761 775.
ulated, and the simulation results conrmed its validity. In
future studies, the controller will be implemented and tested [21] B. Song, C. Fan, Y. Liu, et al. Nonlinear system and control of the
model-scale helicopter[C]//Proceedings of 2009 IEEE International
on the actual experimental platform of the model helicopter.
Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics. Piscataway: IEEE, 2009:
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k13 k21 k11 k22
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Q = k3 (T + T ),
m m

= 0 + f s = k5 (20 + CT ) + w ,
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R
and
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308 B. SONG et al. / J Control Theory Appl 2010 8 (3) 301308

Based on (26), the third-order time derivatives of is The second-order derivative of B2 is

solved: (2)
B2 = C3 C(), (a11)
(3) = f10 + A1{11} a m
1 , (a6)
where

where f10 = (2 f3 f1 ) cos + f3 (f1 f2 sin C3{11} C3{12}

f5 sin f6 cos ) + f7 sec f8 sin , A1{11} = C3 = ,
C3{21} C3{22}
k20 sec (k9 T m + k10 ).
Based on (28), the third-order time derivatives of is C3{11} = 13 (g + 11 )f12 ,
solved: C3{12} = 212 f1 (g + 11 )2 ,
(3) = f11 + A1{21} a m m
1 + A1{22} b1 , (a7) C3{21} = 212 f1 + (g + 11 )2 ,
where C3{22} = 13 (g + 11 )f12 .
cos + (u2 f1 f2 f2 ) sin
f11 = (22 f2 + f1 ) The third-order derivative of B2 is
k11 k19 k13 k22 (3)
+f9 + f7 tan , B2 = C4 C(), (a12)
k13 k21 k11 k22
k11 k19 k13 k22 where

A1{21} = k20 tan (k9 T m + k10 ), C4{11} C4{12}

k13 k21 k11 k22 C4 = ,
k19 k21 k22 k22 C4{21} C4{22}
A1{22} = [(k9 k13 k11 k12 )T m
k13 k21 k11 k22 C4{11} = u1 312 f12 3(g + 11 )2 f1 ,
+k10 k13 ]. C4{12} = 313 f1 312 2 (g + 11 )(u2 f13 ),
Appendix 2 C4{21} = 313 f1 + 312 2 + (g + 11 )(u2 f13 ),
The second-order derivative of A2 is
(2) (1) C4{22} = u1 312 f12 3(g + 11 )2 f1 .
A2 = A3 (f2 , f3 )T
+ A3 ( , (2)
) ,
(2) T

where the rst-order derivative of A3 is Baoquan SONG received the B.E. degree and M.E.
(1) degree in Automatic Control from National Uni-
A3 = f2 tan A3 + sec A6 , (a8) versity of Defense Technology, Changsha, China,
where in 2002 and 2004, respectively. He was a visiting

Ph.D. student with the Department of Mechanical
A6{11} 0
A6 = , and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto,
A6{21} A6{22} Toronto, Canada, in 2008. Currently, he is pursu-
ing his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Infor-
A6{11} = f2 sec tan ,
mation and Communication Engineering, National
A6{21} = f2 sec2 tan + f3 tan sec2 , University of Defense Technology. His research interests include heli-
copter control, nonlinear control, and robust control. E-mail: baoquan-
A6{22} = 2f3 sec2 tan . song@gmail.com.
(3) (2)
The third-order derivative of A2 is A2 = A3 (f2 , f3 )T Yunhui LIU received his B.E. degree in Applied
(1)
+2A3 ((2) , (2) )T + A3 ((3) , (3) )T , where the second- Dynamics from Beijing Institute of Technology,
China in 1985, his M.E. degree in Mechanical En-
order derivative of A3 is gineering from Osaka University in 1989, and his
(2) (1)
A3 = ((2) tan + f22 )A3 + 2f2 tan A3 Ph.D. in Mathematical Engineering and Informa-
tion Physics from the University of Tokyo, Japan,
+ sec A9 , (a9)
in 1992. He has been with Department of Automa-
where
tion and Computer Aided Engineering, The Chinese
A9{11} 0 University of Hong Kong since 1995 and is currently
A9 = , a professor. He is the director of the Centre for Robotics and Technology
A9{21} A9{22} Education of Faculty of Engineering and the director of the Joint Center
A9{11} = [((2) + 2f22 tan ) tan + f22 ] sec , for Intelligent Sensing and Systems of CUHK and NUDT. He is a fellow
of IEEE and was members of the Robotics Society of Japan and of the So-
A9{21} = ((2) + 2f32 tan ) tan sec2 + ((2) ciety of Instrument and Control Engineers. His research interests include
visual servoing of dynamic systems, medical robotics, internet robotics,
+2f22 tan ) sec2 tan + 2f2 f3 sec2 sec2 , education robotics, multi-ngered grapsing, and active sensor networks.
A9{22} = 2[((2) + 2f32 tan ) tan + f32 sec2 ] sec2 . E-mail: yhliu@mae.cuhk.edu.hk.
Denote
Caizhi FAN received the B.E. degree in Thermal
cos sin Dynamics from Xian Jiaotong University, Xian,
C() = , China and M.E. degree in Astronautic Science and
sin cos Technology from the National University of Defense
and then B2 = (g + 11 )C() (refer to (36)). Technology, Changsha, China, in 2002 and 2004, re-
spectively. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. degree
The rst-order derivative of B2 is
in the Department of Information and Communi-
(1)
= C2 C(),
B2 (a10) cation Engineering, National University of Defense

Technology, Changsha, China. His research interests
12 (g + 11 )f1
where C2 = . include visual servoing, adaptive control, and predictive control. E-mail:
(g + 11 )f1 12 caizhifan@gmail.com.