Hovering Blackhawk Example

Model of the pitch attitude control for a Blackhawk helicopter.

Description

While reading some controls groups online I came across a question on how to automatically maintain hover for an RC helicopter. I hadn't modeled a helicopter before so I found a Master's thesis on the topic and began modeling. The result is an SISO model of the pitch attitude control for Blackhawk helicopter. The plant for the vertical altitude and horizontal speed are also included.

Also, I've included a model using gyro feedforward to keep the helicopter in hover despite noise, disturbances, etc.

• Required Products: Control System Toolbox
• MATLAB release: MATLAB 7.5 (R2007b)
• Other requirements: I have the Control System Toolbox and Signal Processing Toolbox but I don't think either are actually required.

[Gabe Spradlin]

I'd forgotten to mention that I've written a wiki article on this example. The article provides a lot of details on the hows and whys of this model.

http://wikis.controltheorypro.com/index.php?title=Helicopter_Hover_Example

[B. Roossien]

I lack the knowledge to be able to say whether the results are realistic, but from a Simulink point of view, it is a nice example. And with the wiki next to it, a lot of information is provided on how the model works.

A suggestion for next time is to play with the graphical environment. For example, you could have fitted subsytems with images of a black hawk or a rotating blade. It would also be nice to update your graphs during the simulation (by using an m-file).