Unmanned helicopter trajectory tracking control based on L1 adaptive and backstepping method

In this paper, a dual loop trajectory tracking control strategy based on L1 adaptive and backstepping method is proposed for unmanned helicopter. The controller is designed to deal with the external disturbances and inaccurate measurement of inertial parameters in actual flight. Firstly, a simplified model of unmanned helicopter is established. Secondly, the backstepping method is adopted to control the trajectory in position outer loop. Thirdly, the L1 adaptive control method is introduced to estimate and compensate the external disturbances and inaccurate measurement of inertial parameters in attitude inner loop. Finally, the numerical simulation of line and spiral trajectory is carried out to illustrate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.