Modeling and Autopilot Design of Blended Wing-Body UAV

Abstract

This paper describes the modeling and autopilot design procedure of a Blended Wing-Body(BWB) UAV. The BWB UAV is a tailless design that integrates the wing and the fuselage. This configuration shows some aerodynamic advantages of lower wetted area to volume ratio and lower interference drag as compared to conventional type UAV. Also, BWB UAV may be increase payload capacity and flight range. However, despite of these benefits, this type of UAV presents several problems related to flying qualities, stability, and control. In this paper, the detailed modeling procedure of BWB UAV and stability analysis results using the linearized model at trim condition are represented. Finally, we designed the autopilot of BWB UAV based on a simple control allocation scheme and evaluated its performance through nonlinear simulation.