Direct adaptive fuzzy control for a nonlinear helicopter system

Abstract

Purpose

To design effective and practical controllers that use the adaptive fuzzy approaches and are applicable to helicopters.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on Takagi‐Sugeno fuzzy systems, a new direct adaptive fuzzy control scheme is developed for a class of nonlinear multiple‐input‐multiple‐output systems. A simple observer is designed to generate an error signal for the adaptive law. The system states of the system are not required to be available for measurement.

Findings

The overall adaptive scheme guarantees all the signals involved being uniformly bounded in the Lyapunov sense.

Research limitations/implications

The implementation of this research work needs further investigation.

Practical implications

The simplicity of the design algorithm facilitates the application of the design to helicopters by the use of Matlab.

Originality/value

Experimental results of a two degree of freedom helicopter are presented to confirm the usefulness of the proposed new control scheme.

Citation

Ho, H.F., Wong, Y.K. and Rad, A.B. (2008), "Direct adaptive fuzzy control for a nonlinear helicopter system", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 80 No. 2, pp. 124-128. https://doi.org/10.1108/00022660810859346