Hierarchical hybrid modelling and control of an unmanned helicopter

In this paper, we propose a hybrid modelling and control design scheme for an unmanned helicopter. This control structure has a hierarchical form with three layers: the regulation layer, the motion planning layer, and the supervision layer. For each layer, a separate hybrid controller has been developed. Then, a composition operator is adopted to capture the interactions between these layers. The resulting closed-loop system can flexibly command the helicopter to perform different tasks, autonomously. The designed controller is embedded in the avionic system of an unmanned helicopter, and actual flight test results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control structure