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CEAS EuroGNC 2019

Design and Experimental Validation of UAV Control Laws - 3D Spline-Path-Following and Easy-Handling Remote Control
Nicolas Sedlmair Institute of Aircraft Systems Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany
Julian Theis Institute of Aircraft Systems Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany
Frank Thielecke Institute of Aircraft Systems Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany
Abstract:
A complete flight control architecture with two different operating modes is developed for a 24.6kg UAV. The first control mode provides easy-handling of the UAV for a remote pilot from the ground. All relevant control loops are designed using loopshaping techniques and gain-scheduling over airspeed. Comprehensive details of the model-based design procedure are given. The second mode provides 3D path-following capabilities using cubic spline segments between specified waypoints. A way of calculating a virtual target point on the splines is introduced with a focus on practically relevant issues such as switching between different spline segments. A nonlinear guidance law from the literature is implemented. Experimental validation of both control modes is performed in several flight tests, showing high-performance in real-world conditions.
Keywords: Aircraft flight control analysis and design; Aircraft flight test evaluation; Nonlinear control
 View PDF CEAS-GNC-2019-070


Nicolas Sedlmair, Julian Theis, Frank Thielecke: Design and Experimental Validation of UAV Control Laws - 3D Spline-Path-Following and Easy-Handling Remote Control. Proceedings of the 2019 CEAS EuroGNC conference. Milan, Italy. April 2019. CEAS-GNC-2019-070.
BibTeX entry:

@Incollection{CEAS-GNC-2019-070,
    authors = {Sedlmair, Nicolas and Theis, Julian and Thielecke, Frank},
    title = {Design and Experimental Validation of {UAV} Control Laws - {3D} Spline-Path-Following and Easy-Handling Remote Control},
    booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2019 {CEAS EuroGNC} conference},
    address = {Milan, Italy},
    month = apr,
    year = {2019},
    note = {CEAS-GNC-2019-070}
}