Unmanned aerial vehicles: control methods and future challenges

With the rapid development of computer technology, automatic control technology and communication technology, research on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has attracted extensive attention from all over the world during the last decades. Particularly due to the demand of various civil applications, the conceptual design of UAV and autonomous flight control technology have been promoted and developed mutually. This paper is devoted to providing a brief review of the UAV control issues, including motion equations, various classical and advanced control approaches. The basic ideas, applicable conditions, advantages and disadvantages of these control approaches are illustrated and discussed. Some challenging topics and future research directions are raised.