Autopilot Design For Fixed Wing Aircraft Under Colored Noise

This study presents a state estimation filter capable of operating reliably under colored noise conditions, along with an integrated autopilot system for the longitudinal motion of a fixed-wing aircraft. In the proposed approach, noise is modeled with the assumption that it may be not only white but also colored, and the filter design is carried out accordingly by augmenting the state vector to include noise dynamics. The main objective of the study is to address the performance degradation of the Kalman filter under colored noise, despite its effectiveness in white noise conditions, and to demonstrate that the newly designed filter performs accurately even in such challenging environments. To achieve this, classical control methods were applied to the longitudinal dynamics of the aircraft, and both LQR and LQI control strategies were tested. The controllers and reference signals were developed in MATLAB Simulink, and the system was successfully simulated.