Energy management method for an unpowered landing

The unpowered landing of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a critical stage, which affects the safety of flight. To solve the problem of the unpowered landing of UAV, an energy management scheme is proposed. After the cruise is over, the aircraft shuts down the engine and begins to land. When the aircraft is in the high altitude, the dynamic pressure is too large, and it is difficult to open the speed brake. When the aircraft is in the low altitude, it is close to the runway. The method of S-turn may make the aircraft veer off the runway and may be unable to land. So two different schemes of high altitude and low altitude are designed to control energy. In the high altitude, when the energy is too high, it takes the S-turn scheme to consume excess energy. At the same time, the availability and reasonability of the S-turn scheme is demonstrated. In the low altitude, the open angle of speed brake is controlled to adjust the energy consumption. Finally, the simulation results are given to illustrate the availability of energy management.