GPS based position control and waypoint navigation of a quad tilt-wing UAV

Hançer, Cevdet (2010) GPS based position control and waypoint navigation of a quad tilt-wing UAV. [Thesis]

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Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are becoming increasingly capable nowadays and the civilian applications and the military tasks that can be carried out by these vehicles are far more critical than before. There have been remarkable advances in the design and development of UAVs. They are equipped with various sensors which make them capable of accomplishing missions in unconstrained environments which are dangerous or effortful for manned aircrafts. Recently, significant interest in unmanned aerial vehicles has directed researchers towards navigation problem of flying vehicles. This thesis work focuses on GPS based position control and waypoint navigation of a quad tilt-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (SUAVI: Sabanci University Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). The vehicle is capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). It can also fly horizontally due to its tilt-wing structure. Mechanical and aerodynamic designs are first outlined. A nonlinear mathematical model expressed in a hybrid frame is then obtained using Newton-Euler formulation which also includes aerodynamics effects such as wind and gusts. Extended Kalman filtering (EKF) using raw IMU measurements is employed to obtain reliable orientation estimates which is crucial for attitude stabilization of the aerial vehicle. A high-level acceleration controller which utilizes GPS data produces roll and pitch references for the low-level attitude controllers for hovering and trajectory tracking of the aerial vehicle. The nonlinear dynamic equations of the vehicle are linearized around nominal operating points in hovering conditions and gravity compensated PID controllers are designed for position and attitude control. Simulations and several real flight experiments demonstrate success of the developed position control algorithms.
Item Type: Thesis
Uncontrolled Keywords: UAV. -- Quad-Rotor. -- Tilt-Wing. -- Position control. -- Hover. -- Waypoint navigation. -- Kalman filter. -- GPS. -- Hierarchical control. -- Airplanes. -- Tilt-duct VTOL UAV. -- Surveillance. -- İHA. -- Dört-Rotor. -- Döner-Kanat. -- Pozisyon kontrolü. -- Havada asılı kalma. -- Güzergah izleme. -- Kalman filtresi. -- Hiyerarşik kontrol. -- Uçaklar. -- İnsansız hava aracı. -- Gözetleme.
Subjects: T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery > TJ163.12 Mechatronics
Divisions: Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences > Academic programs > Mechatronics
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Depositing User: IC-Cataloging
Date Deposited: 08 Jun 2012 15:00
Last Modified: 26 Apr 2022 09:56
URI: https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/id/eprint/19094

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