A versatile Simulation environment for Design Verification, System Integration Testing and Pilot Training of a diamond-shaped Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Kurzfassung

The OpenInnovation/Sagitta project – under the lead management of Airbus Defence and Space and the active participation of numerous academic institutions\footnote[2]{TU Munich, University of the Armed Forces Munich, TH Ingolstadt, TU Chemnitz and the German Aerospace Center (DLR)} – has its focus on the contribution of innovative technologies within the scope of unmanned aviation. As part of the project, the Sagitta Demonstrator UAV has been constructed, tested and finally flight tested at the Overberg flight test range in South Africa. Before the actual flight tests were performed, intensive simulation and integration testing activities as well as operator training sessions in advance of its maiden flight had to be performed along with the general progress of the project. This paper is dedicated to the description of the general setup of the employed Simulation and Integration Testing environment (SIT) for this aircraft, continued with a specific focus on the implementation of the flight dynamics model (FDM), landing gear model (LDG) and respective systems models as well as the data flow between these entities. The utilized setup and fault insertion capabilities are presented, that provided a good preparation base for all involved personnel. Finally the respective models embedded within the overall simulation setup are compared with currently available flight test results.