Unmanned Air Systems are moving from prototype to deployment faster than development processes can keep up. Since 2022, hundreds of UAS incidents have been recorded — many traceable back to gaps between digital design and physical testing. In this workshop, we show how a Digital Twin foundation, built with MATLAB and Simulink, connects controller design, plant modelling, and Hardware-in-the-Loop testing into one workflow. Attendees will see a UAS flight controller developed, connected to a Pixhawk autopilot, and tested on a Speedgoat real-time target, including sensor fault injection to check robustness before deployment.

Why attend?

This workshop offers a practical introduction to Model-Based Design for UAS development and verification, using MATLAB and Simulink. Participants will see how to connect Simulink directly to autopilot hardware such as Pixhawk via the PX4 and ArduPilot Hardware Support Packages, and how to test control algorithms under realistic scenario conditions, including GPS loss and other injected sensor faults. The session shows how a single Simulink model moves from concept to hardware, tested across MIL, SIL, PIL, and HIL modes.

Agenda

• Introduction: the current state of UAS incidents and the case for a Digital Twin foundation
• Digital Engineering capabilities with MathWorks: from requirements to operations and sustainment
• Developing the control laws: cascaded attitude and position control for a UAS controller
• Building a virtual physical model: flight dynamics equations of motion and sensor fault injection
• Connecting Simulink to autopilot hardware: Pixhawk, PX4, and ArduPilot Hardware Support Packages
• Hardware-in-the-Loop testing on a Speedgoat real-time target
• Visualization: from MATLAB and Simulink scenes to Unreal Engine and Cesium digital twins
• Takeaways and the scale-up challenge: System-of-Systems, Counter-UAS, and Electronic Warfare

Who should attend?

This workshop is intended for professionals involved in the development, verification, and validation of unmanned air systems and other embedded control systems, including control engineers, software engineers, verification and validation engineers, test engineers, certification and functional safety engineers, and Model-Based Design practitioners working on UAS platforms, autonomy, perception, or communication systems for aerospace and defense.

Featured products

All products mentioned in this workshop are developed by MathWorks.

• MATLAB
• Simulink
• Embedded Coder
• Simulink Test
• Polyspace

How to Access:

To watch the workshop, simply fill out the form on this page. Once registered, you’ll gain immediate access and can watch it directly on the page. Additionally, you’ll receive an email with a link to access the on-demand session at your convenience.