Methodology for implementation of unmanned vehicle control on FPGA using system generator

This paper explores the use of the Xilinx's system generator development tool for the implementation of control algorithms on Xilinx field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). The Simulink plug in complements traditional hardware description language (HDL) by providing a graphical language with a higher level of abstraction for the development of FPGA designs. After taking into consideration the challenges of converting control designs that have been implemented and verified within the Simulink environment to FPGA hardware implementation, a systematic approach is presented. As a case study, a FPGA implementation of a control system was derived and verified for a simulated unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). The design example demonstrates the validity of the presented method as an efficient and reliable method for rapid system prototyping for designs developed using the Simulink environment.