Desenvolvimento de modelo, ajuste de ganhos e software-in-the-loop para testes de piloto automático para uma aeronave remotamente pilotada

Abstract

A fundamental part of a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) is the set formed by its au- topilots, considering the intrinsically autonomous operation of this type of aircraft. To reduce the costs and risks associated with possible failures during the test of these con- trol loops on hardware, it is interesting to develop a method that allows preliminary verification on software. This work proposes a hybrid model to obtain the aerodynamic derivatives of stability and control of a remotely piloted aircraft, using the vortex lattice method implemented by the AVL (Athena Vortex Lattice) software and the Blade Ele- ment Theory used by the X-Plane flight simulator. Therefore, it is possible to establish the nonlinear mathematical model of the aircraft and linearize it around an equilibrium position. Then, specifications to increase stability of longitudinal and lateral-directional control (SAS, Stability Augmentation System) are determined and autopilots are desig- ned for altitude hold, pitch attitude hold, speed hold, roll angle hold and yaw angle hold, using modern control techniques. For validation of the non-linear model of the projected systems, a software-in-the-loop simulation is adopted from the integration between the controls in SIMULINK© and the X-Plane flight simulator. This system also integrates the Waypoint Follower algorithm, from SIMULINK©, to carry out a mission that allows an increase in the reliability of the developed autopilots.