Textbook in PDF format

Designed for advanced undergraduate or graduate students in engineering or the sciences, this book offers a bridge to the aerodynamics and control of Autonomous unmanned air vehicles (UAV) flight. This book presents a unique and broad introduction to the necessary background, tools, and methods to design guidance, navigation, and control systems for unmanned air vehicles The authors explore the essential underlying physics and sensors of UAV problems, including low-level autopilot for stability and higher-level autopilot functions of path planning. The textbook leads the student from rigid-body dynamics through aerodynamics, stability augmentation, and state estimation using onboard sensors, to maneuvering through obstacles. To facilitate understanding, the authors have replaced traditional homework assignments with a simulation project using the MATLAB/Simulink environment. Students begin by modeling rigid-body dynamics, then add aerodynamics and sensor models. They develop low-level autopilot code, extended Kalman filters for state estimation, path-following routines, and high-level path-planning algorithms. The final chapter of the book focuses on UAV guidance using machine vision. Brief Contents Preface Introduction Coordinate Frames Kinematics and Dynamics Forces and Moments Linear Design Models Autopilot Design Using Successive Loop Closure Sensors for MAVs State Estimation Design Models for Guidance Straight-line and Orbit Following Path Manager Path Planning Vision-guided Navigation Appendix A: Nomenclature and Notation Appendix B: Quaternions Appendix C: Animations in Simulink Appendix D: Modeling in Simulink Using S-functions Appendix E: Airframe Parameters Appendix F: Trim and Linearization in Simulink Appendix G: Essentials from Probability Theory Appendix H: Sensor Parameters Bibliography Index