Pitch and yaw motion control of 2 DoF helicopter subjected to faults using sliding-mode control

This paper presents a fault-tolerant control scheme for a 2 DOF helicopter. The 2 DOF helicopter is a higher-order multi-input multi-output system featuring non-linearity, cross-coupling, and unstable behaviour. The impact of sensor, actuator, and component faults on such highly complex systems is enormous. This work employs sliding mode control, which is based on reaching and super-twisting laws, to handle the problem of fault control. Simulation tests are carried out to show the effectiveness of the algorithms. Various performance metrics are analyzed and the results show SMC based on super-twisting law provides better control with less chattering. The stability of the closed-loop system is mathematically assured, in the presence of faults, which is a key contribution of this research.