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## Waypoint following autopilot for a GA class fixed-wing aircraft

### Kacper Rafał Baczyński

#### Abstract

The aim of the thesis is to design a waypoint following autopilot for a General Aviation airplane. An aircraft with the designed autopilot should be able to maintain the desired flight altitude as well as move between selected waypoints along the orthodrome, in the most economical way. Additionally, the autopilot should allow both coordinated and standard turn during heading changes. In order to perform these tasks, it is necessary to control the airplanes’ elevator, aileron, and rudder. Due to its steering functions, the designed autopilot is composed of the altitude hold system, direction control system, and sideslip suppression system. At the beginning of the first chapter, the purpose and scope of this work was formulated. Next, the Euler angles, the angle of attack, and the sideslip angle were defined by means of appropriate relations between the adopted coordinate systems. Following this, the principles of steering and control systems of the aircraft were discussed. They were divided into gasodynamic and aerodynamic systems. Particular attention was paid to the latter system, which the designed autopilot utilizes. Subsequently, the control surfaces and their influence on airplane control were characterized. Control stick, yoke, and rudder pedals along with their different ways of connecting to control surfaces were also discussed. The next subsection deals with basic concepts used in navigation and contains a description of the initial orthodrome course and the distance between two points along this line. The coordinated and standard turn were then defined. At the end of the first chapter, automatic flight control systems with an emphasis on autopilots were discussed. They were divided into appropriate channels and functions. Information about very popular PID controllers and how to tune them was also cited. Finally, the indicators which can be used to assess the quality of control of automatic control systems were discussed. The second chapter begins with the characterization of the dynamic Navion model from the AeroSim library, which was used in the simulation. Next, the emphasis was put on the functions performed by the autopilot. Also, its structure was discussed and the desired sensors which the autopilot should use were proposed. The physical implementation and simplifying assumptions adopted during the design process were introduced as well. The third chapter is a detailed description of the entire system design in the MATLAB / Simulink environment according to the proper sequence of operation. In the fourth chapter, tests of the autopilot in the mentioned environment were carried out, following a testing procedure developed beforehand. An analysis of selected variables with previously imposed conditions was carried out. The fifth chapter summarizes the design process with a focus on the assessment of the system's performance. Finally, further options for developing an automatic flight control system for General Aviation aircraft was proposed.
Diploma type
Engineer's / Bachelor of Science
Diploma type
Engineer's thesis
Author
Kacper Rafał Baczyński (FPAE) Kacper Rafał Baczyński,, Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering (FPAE)
Title in Polish
Autopilot realizujący lot po punktach nawigacyjnych dla samolotu ogólnego przeznaczenia
Supervisor
Maciej Zasuwa (FPAE/IAAM) Maciej Zasuwa,, The Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics (FPAE/IAAM)Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering (FPAE)
Certifying unit
Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering (FPAE)
Affiliation unit
The Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics (FPAE/IAAM)
Study subject / specialization
, Lotnictwo i Kosmonautyka (Aerospace Engineering)
Language
(pl) Polish
Status
Finished
Defense Date
28-06-2019
Issue date (year)
2019
Pages
62
Internal identifier
MEL; PD-5148
Reviewers
Marcin Żugaj (FPAE/IAAM) Marcin Żugaj,, The Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics (FPAE/IAAM)Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering (FPAE) Maciej Zasuwa (FPAE/IAAM) Maciej Zasuwa,, The Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics (FPAE/IAAM)Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering (FPAE)
Keywords in Polish
sterowanie, autopilot, punkt nawigacyjny, kurs, kąt drogi, ortodroma, zakręt skoordynowany, zakręt standardowy, regulator PID, samolot, lotnictwo ogólne, Simulink
Keywords in English
control, autopilot, waypoint, heading, course, great circle, coordinated turn, standard rate turn, PID controller, airplane, General Aviation, Simulink
Abstract in Polish
File
• File: 1
Baczyński_praca.pdf
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Local fields
Identyfikator pracy APD: 34891

Uniform Resource Identifier
https://repo.pw.edu.pl/info/bachelor/WUT11888bb200e9482a94c59a4abff90460/
URN
urn:pw-repo:WUT11888bb200e9482a94c59a4abff90460

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