Autonomous flight control laws design for a Tailless Flying-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Abstract

A Tailless Flying-Wing UAV (TFW UAV) has several aerodynamic advantages of high lift to drag ratio and high volume to wetted area ratio as compared to conventional type UAV. In paper the static stability and control derivatives of a TFW UAV are obtained from CFD analysis. The autonomous flight control laws are designed based on the stability analysis using the linearized model at trim condition. Longitudinal and lateral-directional performance is evaluated through nonlinear simulation. An onboard flight control system (FCS) is developed by using a high precision navigation unit, a powerful computer, and digital communication modem. Furthermore, a full dimension TFW UAV is built and tested in flight. The FCS controlling capability is satisfied in expectation.