Adaptive predictor-based control for a helicopter system with input delays: Design and experiments

In this paper, we consider a 2-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) helicopter system subject to long input delays and uncertain system parameters. To address the challenges including unknown system parameters and input delays in control design, we develop an adaptive predictor-feedback control law to achieve trajectory tracking. Stability of the closed-loop system is further established, where the tracking errors are shown to converge towards zero. Through simulation and experiments on the helicopter system, we illustrate that tracking of a desired trajectory is achieved with the proposed control scheme.