This book focuses on flight vehicles and their navigational systems, discussing different forms of flight structures and their control systems, from fixed wings to rotary crafts. Software simulation enables testing of the hardware without actual implementation, and the flight simulators, mechanics, glider development and navigation systems presented here are suitable for lab-based experimentation studies. It explores laboratory testing of flight navigational sensors, such as the magnetic, acceleration and Global Positioning System (GPS) units, and illustrates the six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) instrumentation as well as its data acquisition methodology. The book offers an introduction to the various unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems and their accessories, including the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) method for controlling the rotorcraft. It also describes a Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB) control algorithm that simulates and runs the lab-based 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) helicopter, as well as LabVIEW software used to validate controller design and data acquisition. Lastly, the book explores future developments in aviation techniques.

Autorentext
Mr. Tian Seng Ng has a MSc degree in Computer Control and Automation. He is a member of the technical staff at the Nanyang Technological University. He has been active in the field of flight robotics, control, and automation for almost 25 years, and has worked on gantry crane automation systems at wharves and field pumping stations in Singapore. His interest lies in the domain of control, mechatronics, autonomous systems and machine vision.

Inhalt

Chapter 1 --- Introduction 1.1 Preliminary 1.2 Book Highlights 1.3 Chapters' Organization
Chapter 2 --- Flight Mechanics 2.1 Basic Flight System 2.2 Steady Straight Level Flight 2.3 Takeoff Maneuver 2.4 Glider Design 2.5 Aircraft Failures
Chapter 3 --- Navigational Modules 3.1 Magnetic Heading Sensing 3.2 Acceleration Sensor 3.3 Global Positioning System 3.3.1 GPS Experiment 3.4 Integrated Navigational System
Chapter 4 --- Flight Simulator Systems 4.1 Flight Software And Yoke 53 4.2 Aircraft C-130 Simulator 4.3 Flight Determination Of Aircraft Performance 4.4 Experimental Setup

Chapter 5 --- Tandem Rotor Helicopter Control 5.1 Fundamentals Of Control System 5.2 Tandem Rotor Modelling 5.3 PID Control Scheme 5.4 Elevation Control Analysis 5.4.1 Elevation Control 5.4.2 Elevation Controller Design 5.5 Elevation Disturbance Control 5.6 Pitch Control Analysis 5.6.1 Pitch Control 5.6.2 Pitch Controller Design 5.7 Travel Control Analysis 5.7.1 Travel Position Control 5.7.2 Travel Position Controller Design 5.8 Travel Rate Control Analysis 5.8.1 Travel Rate Control 5.8.2 Travel Rate Controller Design 5.9 3-DOF Helicopter Control System 5.10 Real Time Control Implementation
Chapter 6 --- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System 6.1 Autopilots 6.2 Machine Vision Payload 6.3 Telemetry 6.4 Ground Control Station 6.5 Unmanned Wooden Airplane Chapter 7 --- Rotorcrafts 7.1 Quadrotor Modelling 7.1.1 Hovering Body Parallel To The Ground 7.1.2 Altitude Control 7.2 State-Space Control Method 7.3 Attitude LQR Controller 7.4 Attitude Control Result 7.5 Control Of The Quadcopter 7.6 LQR Control Technique 7.6.1Controllability & Observability 7.6.2 Modified LQR Control 7.6.3 The Threshold Value 7.7 Quadcopter Computations 7.8 Multiple Quadcopters
Chapter 8 --- Flight Instrumentation Acquisition 8.1 Inertial Navigation Systems 8.2 INS Hardware Interface 8.3 Sensor Information Acquisition 8.4 GUI Software Development 8.4.1 Internal Computation 8.4.2 Main Function Block 8.4.3 Input Configuration 8.5 Robotic Navigational Sensor 8.5.1 Packet Signals 8.5.2 GPS Receiving Signals 8.6 IMU Data Extraction 8.7 IMU 3D Model Acquisition <di...