UAS Flight Simulation with Hardware-in-the-loop Testing and Vision Generation

Abstract

UAS flight simulation for research and development is a difficult problem because each airframe requires accurate physical models, control systems, an organized method of testing new control systems, virtual cameras for vision-based control, and methods of testing new control in the transition from simulation to flight tests. In an environment where researchers are temporary, such as a university, a standard research and development platform with these properties expedites prototyping and prevents code loss when an employee leaves. We develop a research simulation which conforms to all of these properties inside a Matlab environment. A series of mex functions provide connections to the autopilot for hardware-in-the-loop testing, graphical interfaces, and vision processing. The option to write C mex functions offers a seamless method of porting code to embedded systems, minimizing coding errors. We demonstrate fast prototyping by showing flight test data where the simulation provided virtual vision data to avoid virtual obstacles.