A comparison of control systems for the flight transition of VTOL unmanned aerial vehicles
Date
2008-03
Authors
Kriel, Steven Cornelius
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
Abstract
This thesis details the development of linear control systems that allow a
vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle to perform transitions
between vertical and horizontal flight. Two mathematical models are derived
for the control system design. A large non-linear model, describing all
the dynamics of the aircraft, is linearised in order to perform optimal control
using linear quadratic regulator theory. Another model is decoupled using
time scale separation to form separate rigid body and point mass dynamics.
The decoupled model is controlled using classical control techniques. Simulation
results are used to judge the relative performance of the two control
schemes in several fields including: Trajectory tracking, sensitivity to parameters,
computational complexity and ease of use.
Description
Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
Keywords
Theses -- Electrical and electronic engineering, Dissertations -- Electrical and electronic engineering