Exploring RNP applications in Urban Air Mobility: A Quadrotor UAV Accuracy Study

Abstract

We designed a flight controller for a quadrotor UAV to guide it on a pre-programmed trajectory instead of flying from waypoint to waypoint. Following ARINC424 procedures for path terminators, we implemented track to fix (TF) legs to design the trajectory. To keep the quadrotor on the trajectory, we updated the heading to follow the TF leg instead of following the waypoints. The new heading is the output of a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. We presented two simulated fights using PX4 autopilot and QGroundControl ground station. In post processing, we measured the flight technical error and total system error from the quadrotor's position solution recorded on the flight logs. For one of the flight, the flight technical error had maximum value = 2.33m. and mean value = -0.157m.