Review and Comparative Analysis of Methods for Modeling Flight Characteristics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

With the expansion of the scope of unmanned aerial vehicles, reliable forecasting of their behavior at the design stage is becoming an increasingly urgent task. This problem can be solved using appropriate modeling methods. Purpose: to identify and compare the methods used in simulating the flight characteristics of unmanned aerial vehicles. Results: a model of spatial motion with six degrees of freedom (6DoF, Six Degrees of Freedom) was considered, a comparison was made of the main methods used to simulate flight characteristics (Euler’s method, the classic Runge — Kutta fourth-order method and the adaptive Runge — Kutta — Felberg scheme), route planning algorithms (A*, RRT*, genetic particle swarm algorithm and method. It has been established that for most research problems, the Runge — Kutta method of the fourth order turns out to be a reasonable compromise in accuracy and computational cost, while adaptive schemes are preferred in modes with different-scale dynamics. Recommendations are formulated on the selection of the method depending on the class of the problem and the permissible error. Practical significance: the results of the work are applicable to the creation of flight simulation software and the selection of a computing core for a specific class of unmanned aerial vehicles.