Rotorcraft Unmanned Aircraft System
Dan Wang · Control Engineering of China · 2015
Recently, with the frequent occurrence of natural disasters like earthquake, fire and floods, a Rotorcraft Unmanned Aircraft System(RUAS) with advanced onboard autonomous capabilities has become the research focus of many research institutions. Firstly, this paper provides the brief introduction of the RUAS on the basis of latest development, function and classification of the RUAS. Then, the major research groups involved in the development of the RUAS during the last two decades as well as the conception of autonomy level of the RUAS are presented. The core components of an autonomous RUAS include three functional modules: Guidance, Navigation and Control(GNC), which are the main research works of relevant institutions. After that, this paper demonstrates several representative particles related to the field of GNC. The main objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive survey of RUAS, especially the description and summary of the conventional method and technique used in flight testing. Finally, the paper discusses the highlight challenges that need to be addressed in staggering development of the RUAS.