Quaternion Attitude Control System of Highly Maneuverable Aircraft

Gołąbek, Michał; Welcer, Michał; Szczepański, Cezary; Krawczyk, Mariusz; Zajdel, Albert; Borodacz, Krystian

doi:10.3390/electronics11223775

Open AccessArticle

Quaternion Attitude Control System of Highly Maneuverable Aircraft

by

Michał Gołąbek

^*

,

Michał Welcer

,

Cezary Szczepański

,

Mariusz Krawczyk

,

Albert Zajdel

and

Krystian Borodacz

Łukasiewicz Research Network—Institute of Aviation, Al. Krakowska 110/114, 02-256 Warszawa, Poland

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Electronics 2022, 11(22), 3775; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11223775

Submission received: 7 October 2022 / Revised: 14 November 2022 / Accepted: 16 November 2022 / Published: 17 November 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automation, Operation and Maintenance of Control and Communication Systems)

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Abstract

In the era of rapid advancements in manned and unmanned aviation and robotics, there is a need for high-performance, robust attitude control of highly maneuverable fixed-wing aircraft, both manned and unmanned (UAVs). This paper presents an extension to research on spacecraft attitude control. The article extends existing concepts and applies them to the control problem of aircraft operating in Earth’s atmosphere. First, a general concept of quaternions is presented. Next, the attitude controller’s architecture is discussed. The controller synthesis is described using quaternion algebra. The quaternion-based attitude controller is then compared with a classical Euler-based attitude controller. The methodology for comparison and performance evaluation of both controllers is described. Lastly, the results of the simulations and a comparison of the two controllers are presented and discussed. The presented control scheme outperforms classical methods based on Euler angles, particularly at the aircraft’s high pitch and roll angles.

Keywords: attitude; control; aircraft; UAV; fixed-wing; quaternions; Euler angles; avionics

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MDPI and ACS Style

Gołąbek, M.; Welcer, M.; Szczepański, C.; Krawczyk, M.; Zajdel, A.; Borodacz, K. Quaternion Attitude Control System of Highly Maneuverable Aircraft. Electronics 2022, 11, 3775. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11223775

AMA Style

Gołąbek M, Welcer M, Szczepański C, Krawczyk M, Zajdel A, Borodacz K. Quaternion Attitude Control System of Highly Maneuverable Aircraft. Electronics. 2022; 11(22):3775. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11223775

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gołąbek, Michał, Michał Welcer, Cezary Szczepański, Mariusz Krawczyk, Albert Zajdel, and Krystian Borodacz. 2022. "Quaternion Attitude Control System of Highly Maneuverable Aircraft" Electronics 11, no. 22: 3775. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11223775

APA Style

Gołąbek, M., Welcer, M., Szczepański, C., Krawczyk, M., Zajdel, A., & Borodacz, K. (2022). Quaternion Attitude Control System of Highly Maneuverable Aircraft. Electronics, 11(22), 3775. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11223775

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Quaternion Attitude Control System of Highly Maneuverable Aircraft

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