Control algorithm and flight simulation integration using the open control platform for unmanned aerial vehicles

In order for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to exhibit increasing degrees of autonomy; heterogeneous control system software needs to be able to collaborate and reconfigure to varying mission conditions. Currently this ability is very limited due to inadequate software architectures on which the control systems are implemented. This paper describes an integration platform that adopts an open systems approach to integrating heterogeneous control algorithms. This platform was applied to real-time piloted and unpiloted simulations of a helicopter UAV while testing the performance of an adaptive controller as well as the ability to reconfigure during a main rotor collective actuator failure. Results indicate that the chosen architecture can greatly increase the ability to integrate heterogeneous components in a seamless fashion into a collaborating set of resources that achieve the desired mission functionality. This paper describes the integration of flight modeling and visualization with control algorithms.