Fractional Order Controllers for Twin Rotor Aerodynamical System

The twin-rotor aerodynamical system (TRAS) is a highly nonlinear system with a cross-coupling effect. The input variables of the system are the two voltages applied to the motors. There are 4 output signals, the angular azimuth and pitch velocities of the motors and the vertical and horizontal positions. Although several controllers are published in the literature for this system, all solutions are with great complexity. The novelty of this work consists in the design of fractional order controllers using two innovative, ease to use methods. In this way, after a complete decoupling, the individual outputs are controlled by individual performant controllers, thus giving the subsystems a high degree of independence. The two controllers are designed for the velocity of the azimuth and pitch motor. The control loop is implemented and tested on the physical TRAS laboratory equipment, yielding results comparable with any complex solution already acknowledged. In order to highlight the special performances of the two fractional order controller design method, a comparison is also offered.