A Robust H ∞ Controller for an UAV Flight Control System.

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Control Systems Theory
• Robotics

Background:

• Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) require sophisticated control systems for stable and precise navigation.
• Real-world operating environments often present significant noise and uncertainties, challenging controller performance.
• Traditional control methods may struggle to meet the demands of complex UAV maneuvers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and validate a robust H ∞ controller for UAVs capable of tracking diverse maneuvers.
• To address challenges posed by noisy environments and system uncertainties in UAV control.
• To introduce a novel control architecture using vertical velocity, true airspeed, and heading angle as references.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a robust inner-outer loop control strategy.
• Design of the inner loop controller using H ∞ control methodology.
• Design of the outer loop controllers utilizing the H ∞ Loop Shaping technique.
• Validation through simulations demonstrating performance under noise and uncertainties.

Main Results:

• The proposed H ∞ control scheme successfully enabled the UAV to track various maneuvers.
• The controller demonstrated robustness against environmental noise and system uncertainties.
• Simulation results confirmed the system's ability to meet performance requirements.

Conclusions:

• The developed robust H ∞ controller provides a reliable solution for UAV maneuver tracking.
• The inner-outer loop strategy and H ∞ Loop Shaping are effective for designing robust UAV controllers.
• The nontraditional reference vector approach shows promise for advanced UAV piloting.