Control design for an under-actuated UAV model

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), are increasingly being adapted and used in civil contexts, with particular specialization in the monitoring of the territory for environmental purposes, civil protection or possibly control and inspection of inaccessible areas or dangerous sites. This concerns, in particular, the adaptation of mini-UAVs, small devices that, due to their manageability and costs, can be allocated for public services. For this reason, it was decided to develop a multibody model of a quadrotor copter in the presence of wind fields by using SimScape Multibody Environment. The quadrotor is modelled as a non-linear underactuated and strongly coupled system. For the dynamic analysis, aerodynamic effect of drag, the thrust due to the propellers and external wind fields are considered. The evaluation of the needed thrust for prescribed trajectories gives indications about the type of propellers and actuator characteristics to be installed on the UAV.

Keywords

• uav
• feedforward control
• feedback control
• simscape
• multibody