System Identification and Handling Quality Analysis of a UAV from Flight Test Data

Frequency domain identification of a fixed-wing UAV using flight test data is presented. Based on the identified model, handling qualities are evaluated. The instrumentation and experiment design are also presented and discussed. The flight test data used in this study are obtained from open loop flights of the UAV. The identification of frequency response and state-space models for the longitudinal and lateral/directional dynamics is accomplished using the frequency-domain identification methods of CIFER ® .