Discrete Sliding Mode Control for the Lateral Dynamics of a Uav with Minimum Control Surfaces

With the evolution of high power density battery, cheap air frames, powerful microprocessors etc. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) started playing a great role in various areas like traffic monitoring, aerial surveillance, hurricane hunting and so on. The UAV's used for these purposes are usually flown at low altitudes, almost below 1000m. Flying at such low altitudes make the UAV easy to crash. Therefore a robust and accurate autopilot system is necessary for small UAVs. The objective of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of discrete sliding mode approach for the lateral dynamics of an unmanned aerial vehicle, P15035. The controller is designed for a linear SIMO model. Keywords— Discrete Sliding Mode Control, Elevons, Model Reference Sliding Mode Control, Quasi Sliding Mode.