Simulation of backstepping-based nonlinear control for quadrotor helicopter

Abstract

The control of quadrotor helicopter in a hover condition has always been a great challenge for control engineers and researchers. Various algorithms have been developed to control this type of helicopter due to its high nonlinearities. This paper presents the dynamic model of quadrotor helicopter together with backstepping-based nonlinear control design which stabilizes the system. In order to verify the feasibility of the proposed controller, extensive simulations are performed using Matlab Simulink software. Here, the proper method to configure the solver options of the model design to provide an efficient and accurate simulation performance is presented. Through simulation test by using the dynamic model of a four degree of freedom quadrotor helicopter, the proposed approach can effectively perform stabilization and trajectory tracking. Besides, the simulation results indicate that the proposed design techniques can stabilize the quadrotor helicopter with better performance as compared to the traditional control schemes.