Design and Simulation of Autonomous Landing Phase for An Unmanned Air Vehicle

Abstract

This paper deals with the design and simulation of autonomous landing phase for an unmanned Air Vehicle. Pitch angle and airspeed autopilots are developed, followed by glide slope and flare controllers to guide the aircraft to safe landing. During transition from glide slope to flare path, an UAV tend to be in the unstable region. A blending function has been formulated for use in UAV to overcome this unstability during transition. The flight path command simulation architecture is developed to provide the appropriate command signals for glide path, flare, blending and braking after touchdown. The flight path command signals with reference to the destination airport allows the simulation to perform at any designated airport supported by simulation graphics. Successful landings are demonstrated at a variety of simulated airports all over the world. The MATLAB / SIMULINK toolbox is used as a design tool.