Robust attitude tracking control of a small-scale aerobatic helicopter usinggeometric and backstepping techniques is presented in this article. A nonlinearcoupled rotor-fuselage dynamics model of the helicopter is considered, whereinthe rotor flap dynamics is modeled as a first order system, while the fuselageis as a rigid body dynamically coupled to the rotor system. The robustness ofthe controller in the presence of both structured and unstructured disturbancesis explored. The structured disturbance is due to uncertainty in the rotorparameters, and the unstructured perturbation is modeled as an exogenous torqueacting on the fuselage. The performance of the controller is demonstrated inthe presence of both types of disturbances through simulations for asmall-scale unmanned helicopter. This work is, possibly, the first systematicattempt at designing a globally defined robust attitude tracking controller foran aerobatic helicopter which retains the rotor dynamics and incorporates theuncertainties involved.
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