We present a discrete-time prediction-based state-feedback controller. It is shown that this controller stabilizes possibly unstable continuous-time delay systems. The stability is shown to be robust with respect to uncertainties in the knowledge on the plant parameters, the system delay and the sampling period. The proposed prediction-based controller has been tested in a real-time application to control the yaw angular displacement of a 4-rotor mini-helicopter. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.