Artificial bee colony optimized controller for unmanned rotorcraft pendulum

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a new algorithm for pendulum‐like oscillation control of an unmanned rotorcraft (UR) in a reconnaissance mission and improve the stabilizing performance of the UR's hover and stare.Design/methodology/approachThe algorithm is based on linear‐quadratic regulator (LQR), of which the determinable parameters are optimized by the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm, a newly developed algorithm inspired by swarm intelligence and motivated by the intelligent behaviour of honey bees.FindingsThe proposed algorithm is tested in a UR simulation environment and achieves stabilization of the pendulum oscillation in less than 4s.Research limitations/implicationsThe presented algorithm and design strategy can be extended for other types of complex control missions where relative parameters must be optimized to get a better control performance.Practical implicationsThe ABC optimized control system developed can be easily applied to practice and can safely stabilize the UR during hover and stare, which will considerably improve the stability of the UR and lead to better reconnaissance performance.Originality/valueThis research presents a new algorithm to control the pendulum‐like oscillation of URs, whose performance of hover and stare is a key issue when carrying out new challenging reconnaissance missions in urban warfare. Simulation results show that the presented algorithm performs better than traditional methods and the design process is simpler and easier.