Attitude Controller Design for a Flying Wing UAV

The simulation study plays a crucial role in making sure that the control strategies for autonomous operations of air vehicles could be developed and implemented in the most safe, efficient, and economical way possible. More specifically, this paper is focused on the modelling and controlbased simulation study for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) named as Zagi flying wing. First-of-all, the short-period dynamics of the UAV is obtained from the rigid body equations of motion and further, it is represented in the state-space and transfer function models. Subsequently, a feedback control system is established for controlling the pitch attitude of the UAV by considering the controller, actuator, UAV dynamics, sensor, etc. in the loop. Here, the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) based control action is chosen due to its simplicity, reliability, robustness, and easy implementation on the hardware. A separate study is also conducted by considering P, PI, PD, and PID based control actions in controlling the pitch attitude of the UAV. The comparative analysis of these controllers in the simulation study reveals the appropriate choice for controlling the attitude dynamics of the UAV in the present analysis. It is also evident from this study that the UAV simulation is crucial in enhancing the control methodologies while offering a deeper insight into the UAV’s performance.