Wind Field Estimation of Small UAV Based on Sideslip Angle Information

Abstract

Wind field interference on the small UAVs is complicated, and the traditional means of wind field estimation for UAVs is usually conducted regardless of the sideslip angle information. This paper presents a novel method of wind field estimation for the small fixed-wing UAVs, which takes the sideslip angle into account. Firstly, in order to evaluate the effect of sideslip angle on the wind field estimation precision, a lateral UAV model in higher precision is established. Then, the sideslip angle information is estimated on line based on the model by a Kalman filter with the roll angle measurement. Next, the wind field estimation model is constructed in regard of the sideslip angle information. Finally, in order to make the wind field estimation error smaller, an improved multi-step algorithm of wind field estimation is introduced. Simulation results show that the precision of the estimated wind field by the proposed method is much better than the traditional method, and a proper estimation step is helpful to reduce the wind measurement error.