A model based flight control system design approach for micro aerial vehicle using integrated flight testing and hil simulation

In this paper, a model-based flight control system design approach is proposed for a micro aerial vehicle (MAV) using integrated flight testing and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation. This approach relies on adaptation of system identification and control system design methodologies from the manned aircraft domain. The MAV is specifically designed for a surveillance mission in which a moving ground target such as a ship or a boat is tracked fully autonomously from a specified altitude by using a downward facing camera. We utilize a design process in which the longitudinal and lateral mathematical models are identified through open-loop system identification flight testing. These models are later used in a multi-objective controller optimization scheme in which a control system is designed inline with the high performance tracking requirements. We have utilized a hardware-in-the-loop simulation system allowing comprehensive simulation and testing of designed control and guidance algorithms before fully autonomous flight tests as to minimize cost and crash risk. Both the designed control system and also the legacy flight control system of the autopilot are flight tested. The results demonstrate that the proposed methodology and the resulting control system provides higher performance and robust disturbance rejection in face of real-world conditions such as turbulence and winds.