HIL Simulation of High Altitude Long Endurance UAV's Target Tracking/Flight Integrated Control

An integrated modeling and control strategy of payloads platform and flight control system (FCS) is presented for high altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (HALE UAV). Different from the traditional control method that UAV and payloads platform are modeled and controlled separately, an integrated control idea considering both payloads platform and FCS as a whole is proposed. First, integrated modeling is conducted by deducing the mathematical relation between the payload platform and the UAV's attitude movement. Considering that the UAV platform is usually sensitive to parameter perturbation and external disturbance, robust control theory is then studied and applied in the design of UAV's FCS. A 2-DOF controller containing the disturbance observer (DOB) is designed for payload platform based on the analysis of coupling between the UAV's attitude movement and the payload platform. Finally, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) real-time simulation system for the integrated control of payload platform and FCS is established and simulation results show the effectiveness of the control system.