Explicit constrained optimal trajectory control of an unmanned coaxial rotorcraft

The design and experimental verification of a constrained optimal trajectory tracking control scheme for an unmanned coaxial rotorcraft that respects the vehicle's physical limitations is the subject of this paper. The optimal controller is computed in a finite time horizon fashion and the optimization problem is solved subject to the system dynamics and modeled input and state constraints. The proposed controller is computed explicitly which enables its seamless real-time implementation using high update rates despite the curse of dimensionality that typically follows such control approaches. The capabilities of the platform and the high performance of the control law are evaluated using extended experimental studies.