A Liouvillian systems approach for the trajectory planning-based control of helicopter models

SUMMARY A feedback regulation scheme, based on o!-line trajectory planning and an approximate state linearization, is proposed for the hover-to-hover stabilization of simpli"ed, underactuated, models of a helicopter system. The approach, based on the &Liouvillian’ character of the helicopter kinematic equations, advantageously uses the total, or partial, di!erential #atness property of the system models. The controller performance is evaluated through digital computer simulations which include initial state setting errors of signi"cant magnitudes. Copyright ( 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.