MEMS-Based Low-Cost Flight Control System for Small UAVs

Small unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) can be used for various kinds of surveillance and data collection missions. The UAV flight control system is the key to a successful mission. This paper describes a low-cost micro-electro mechanical system-based flight control system for small UAVs. The integrated hardware flight control system weighs only 24 g. The system includes a highly-integrated wireless transmission link, which is lighter than traditional links. The flight control provides altitude hold control and global positioning system navigation based on gain scheduling proportional-integral-derivative control. Flight tests to survey the grass quality of a large lawn show that the small UAV can fly autonomously according to a series of pre-arranged waypoints with a controlled altitude while the wireless video system transmits images of the surveillance target to a ground control station.