Implementation of image-based autopilot controller using command filtered backstepping for fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle

A visual based autopilot for a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is one of the powerful method to track a target object on sea or ground level using an image based visual servoing control. A feature of target object must always appear on image plane of camera to that by controlling pan-tilt gimbal movement. Aircraft attitude and pan-tilt gimbal can be used as a reference to drive the aircraft to track the target autonomously. In this paper, the aircraft attitude and pan-tilt gimbal movement are controlled using command filtered backstepping method that is designed to adapt nonlinear aircraft dynamics and the camera gimbal image based visual servoing. Implementation of such a visual based autopilot is successfully conducted to govern the pan-tilt gimbal for pointing the camera direction and to drive the aircraft motion to track the target object.