Basics ofMAVFlight Control

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the basics of flight control practiced in large‐scale aviation, focusing on the aspects which are relevant to professional design of MAV flight control. Noting that the flight dynamics knowledge is the cornerstone of flight control design, the relation of control design to mission planning, navigation, and guidance is first described. The key notion of feedback is then explained together with the dependence of its implementation on sensing, actuating, and computing technology. This is followed by description of the fundamental importance of linear approach to feedback control design. Finally, two non‐linear flight control design methods are presented: gain scheduling and bifurcation control. The chapter concludes with recommendation to apply the relevant existing flight dynamics and control knowledge to MAV flight control design.