Application of fuzzy logic controller and pseudo‐attitude to the autonomous flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

This paper presents the application of the proposed autopilot and navigation system to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The autopilot is based on fuzzy control and the navigation system is composed of a single antenna global positioning system (GPS) and gyroscopes, which implies that no other inertial navigation system (INS) is needed for this system. The autopilot consists of four fuzzy logic controllers, which control the altitude, pitch, heading, and roll respectively, and it is capable of performing waypoint navigation and trajectory following. The navigation system supplies the position and the estimated attitude of the aircraft. The estimated attitude is fused from the angular rates measured by the gyroscopes and the pseudo‐attitude derived from the GPS velocity solution, and this fusion is via the quaternion‐based extended Kalman filter (EKF). Ultimately, the feasibility and performance of the resulting autopilot and navigation system are verified through flight simulation of the SP‐80 UAV. The simulation results demonstrate the successful autonomous flight of this UAV, using the autopilot and navigation system, even under the influence of wind disturbance.