Dynamics, Modeling and Flight Control Design for Autonomous UAVs: A Total Energy Control Architecture

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used in extremely dynamic environments, and they frequently need to modify their paths in response to changing circumstances. This necessitates the formulation of an autonomous flight control algorithm that is effective, computationally viable, and can swiftly recalculate a viable quasi-optimal path. This research presents a consolidated platform for the development of an autonomous flight control algorithm, which includes guidance, control, and navigation modules for a complete flight regime including take-off, waypoint navigation, and landing phases. The proposed architecture utilizing a unique combination of control architecture is designed to work efficiently under a wide range of parametric uncertainties and exogenous disturbances. A nonlinear 6-DOF flight dynamics model is implemented to represent UAV dynamics. To achieve the desired objectives, Total Energy Control System (TECS) based nonlinear controller was designed for the different flight regimes. A guidance module is then incorporated to generate navigation commands for fully autonomous flight. To verify the efficacy of the algorithm, the proposed architecture was subjected to extensive nonlinear simulations. It was demonstrated that all performance specifications for takeoff, waypoints navigation, and landing were successfully achieved. The results suggested the suitability of the proposed control architecture for subsequent HILS and hardware development for actual flight utilization.