Autonomous control of agile fixed-wing UAVs performing aerobatic maneuvers

In this work, we present an autonomous control system to perform aerobatic maneuvers with an agile fixed-wing UAV. The control system is strongly based on the underlying physics of the aircraft, thus allowing simple control techniques to work well through the full range of flight conditions undergone in aerobatic maneuvers. Moreover, this single control system is capable of performing a wide variety of maneuvers, including those demonstrated in this work: knife-edge, rolling Harrier, hover, and aggressive turnaround, as well as the transitions between these maneuvers. The system's performance is demonstrated in a high-fidelity simulation environment.