Computation of Aerodynamic Coefficients of the Mathematical Model of a Mini-Class Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Abstract

This paper presents the development and validation of a comprehensive mathematical model for a Miniclass unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), optimized for highfidelity flight dynamics simulation and the design of intelligent control systems. The model provides a rigorous analytical description of aerodynamic forces and moments as functions of the angles of attack and sideslip, as well as control surface deflections. A key feature of the proposed framework is the integration of the propeller-driven powerplant characteristics, including thrust, power, advance ratio, and efficiency, which enables a systemic analysis of UAV performance across various flight regimes. To ensure the reliability of the model, a comparative analysis was performed against experimental wind tunnel data and flight tests of analogous platforms. The results demonstrate an acceptable convergence with experimental data for analogous platforms, with maximum deviations in derivative coefficients reaching up to 28.8% due to geometric variations and aerodynamic interference. Furthermore, the study explores the practical application of this model in enhancing UAV autonomy, particularly for missions involving automated takeoff and landing (ATOL) by incorporating ground effect corrections into the 6-DOF framework. Furthermore, the study explores the practical application of this model in enhancing UAV autonomy, particularly for missions involving automated takeoff and landing (ATOL) and operations under intense electronic warfare (EW) countermeasures. The proposed mathematical apparatus not only facilitates the adaptive tuning of control algorithms but also serves as a critical component for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) flight simulators, ultimately expanding the functional capabilities of Mini-UAVs in complex operational scenarios.