Simulation Environment for the Development of Control Algorithms for Air or Water Vehicles

The present work presents a software environment written in Wolfram Mathematica to help develop and test control algorithms for air or water vehicles, it make no assumptions regarding the initial conditions. It allows the analysis of the behaviour of the controlled vehicle in a risk free environment. It assumes the vehicle dynamics of a rigid body. As example vehicle, It considers a nonconventional propeller driven coaxial-helicopter. The behaviour of propellers and airfoils is modelled as defined by ideal aerodynamic theory, so it needs experiments to adjust the vehicle behaviour. Air vehicles are specially challenging to control since the air offer little damping. Water, in our planet is approximately a thousand times denser than air, exerts considerable more damping and buoyancy; and it represent a different challenge.