Simulation of flight control laws design using model predictive controllers

A Model Predictive Control strategy is proposed for the flight control laws design. The modified MPC controller block is applied to the autopilot. The simulation framework uses MATLAB's basic configuration and Aerosim Aeronautical Simulation Blockset which provides a complete set of tools for rapid development of 6 DoF nonlinear aircraft models. The Aerosonde UAV model is utilized in the simulations to demonstrate the performance. Additionally, FlightGear Flight Simulator is chosen to get visual results and evaluate the controllers. The simulation results show that the flight control system using the proposed controller can achieve satisfactory performance and flying qualities.