April 25, 2018

UAV Flight Control System

DESCRIPTION

1. System Overview. A typical UAV Navigation (UAVN) Flight Control System (FCS) consists of:

2. The following schematic shows how these elements fit together:

3. UAVN's APs are complete APs; they include an Air Data System (ADS - static and dynamic pressure gauges) and a GPS, both connected to an Internal Measurement System that contains accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers and an internal CPU. These systems are connected to a flight control computer that implements aircraft control and communications with the GCS via a datalink and payload control.

4. The schematic of a typical UAVN AP is as follows (AP04 shown in this example):

5. The AP flies the aircraft in fully autonomous mode, from take-off to landing. Its Flight Plan Management (FPM) module will calculate the trajectory to guide the aircraft to the next waypoint (WP), and the FCS module will use the information provided by the Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) to steer the aircraft in the desired trajectory.

6. AP Navigation Control System Logic. The following diagram explains the logic behind the navigation control system:

Source: www.uavnavigation.com