Matlab-based flight control design scheme for UAVs

This work presents a systematic procedure for flight control design of fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles using Matlab platform. The complex, non-linear, six degree-of-freedom dynamics of the vehicle is broken down into longitudinal and lateral dynamics after linearization about a flight condition. Primary control design task includes height, speed and heading control. A control assignment and control design structure is employed to simplify the design problem into multiple successive single-input-single-out (SISO) problems. The process is illustrated by autopilot design of a fixed-wing aerial vehicle. The overall design process is quite general in nature and has potential for application to other control assignments and control loop structures.