Various Levels of Simulation for Slybird MAV Using Model-Based Design

NAL Slybird is a mini, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by NAL. Its primary users will be police and the military services. The design and implementation of an autopilot in such systems assumes the next priority in achieving an autonomously flying mini air vehicle (MAV). An essential requirement to achieve the above goal is through a suitable modeling and simulation platform. This presentation outlines the strategies developed for performing various levels of MAV simulation. The following levels of simulation are performed for the Slybird MAV using MATLAB^® and Simulink^®:

• Open-loop simulation (OLS)
• Model-in-the-loop simulation (MILS)
• Software-in-the-loop simulation (SILS)
• Processor-in-the-loop simulation (PILS)
• Hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS)

The OLS responses are validated with actual flight data and results are shown. The MILS and SILS include various subsystems such as estimator, path planning, and control algorithms all developed in Simulink. The session also demonstrates PILS for Slybird MAV using open source mission planner software and ARDU autopilot (APM 2.6) . The HILS architecture discussed in this presentation is a demonstration of rapid prototyping technique using Real-Time Windows Target™ (now Simulink Desktop Real-Time™) and xPC Target™ (now Simulink Real-Time™).