Terrain following flight of UAV using Information Amount Feedback

This paper presents a terrain following flight of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) using Information Amount Feedback (IAF). IAF is collision avoidance control law that is able to work in unknown environment. IAF uses information amount as a physical value for feedback control. The numerical simulations are held to demonstrate the performance of the terrain following control with IAF. In the simulations, the vehicle flies through the terrain where conventional altitude holding is not able to fly safely and smoothly. To evaluate the performance of the terrain following with IAF, the experimental testbed is constructed, and a flight test is conducted. The results of the tests shows that terrain following flight with IAF enhances flight ability and safety of the UAV.