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Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulation with X-Plane of Attitude Control of a SUAV Exploring Atmospheric Conditions

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Abstract

The attitude control law for fixed-wing small unmanned aircraft proposed in this paper is constructed based on two phases of a flight: stable flight and maneuvering flight. In the maneuvering flight, the aircraft deflects the main control surfaces (ailerons and elevator), whereas on the stable flight only the trim tabs are deflected. The switch between the two flights is done when the aircraft enters a zone in which the difference between the aircraft’s attitude and the reference value that the airplane needs to reach is greater than a predetermined value. The control laws are implemented on an on-board computer and are validated though Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulations, between the hardware and the flight simulator X-Plane, which simulates the unmanned aircraft dynamics, sensors, and actuators. The paper proves that this implementation can reduce the rise time and the overshoot, compared with traditional PID implementations. In order to analyze the behavior of the SUAV in these situations, it was performed simulations with Wind Gust and levels of Turbulence, using the X-Plane features.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Adriano Bittar

  2. Electronics Division, Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Neusa Maria Franco de Oliveira

  3. Mechatronics Division, Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Helosman Valente de Figueiredo

Authors
  1. Adriano Bittar
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  2. Neusa Maria Franco de Oliveira
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  3. Helosman Valente de Figueiredo
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Correspondence to Adriano Bittar.

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Bittar, A., de Oliveira, N.M.F. & de Figueiredo, H.V. Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulation with X-Plane of Attitude Control of a SUAV Exploring Atmospheric Conditions. J Intell Robot Syst 73, 271–287 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-013-9905-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-013-9905-8

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