The UAV Toolbox Support Package for ArduPilot® Autopilots introduces these blocks for reading ArduPlane estimator outputs in Simulink® models:
Current Course — Reads the estimated current UAV course.
Current Airspeed — Reads the estimated current UAV airspeed.
Current Incidence & Sideslip — Reads the estimated current UAV incidence and sideslip angles.
In addition, these blocks now support ArduPlane:
Current Position — Reads the estimated current UAV position.
Current Velocity — Reads the estimated current UAV velocity.
Current Attitude — Reads the estimated current UAV attitude.
Current Ang Velocity — Reads the estimated current UAV angular velocity.
For an example of how to use these blocks to model a fixed-wing plant in a software-in-the-loop simulation, see the Run ArduPilot Software-in-the-Loop Simulation with Fixed-Wing Plant in Simulink example.
The UAV Toolbox Support Package for ArduPilot Autopilots introduces these blocks for reading parameters from and writing parameters to an ArduPilot autopilot:
Read Parameter — Reads parameter values from an ArduPilot autopilot. Use this block when you need to monitor or log configuration parameters, such as PID gains or system settings, during simulation or deployment.
Write Parameter — Writes parameter values to an ArduPilot autopilot. Use this block to modify configuration parameters during simulation or execution, such as tuning control gains or updating system settings.
The UAV Toolbox Support Package for ArduPilot Autopilots introduces these blocks for communicating with peripherals connected to an ArduPilot autopilot:
I2C Controller Read — Reads data from I2C peripherals connected to an ArduPilot autopilot.
I2C Controller Write — Writes data to I2C peripherals connected to an ArduPilot autopilot.
Serial Receive — Receives serial data from UART peripherals connected to an ArduPilot autopilot.
Serial Transmit — Transmits serial data to UART peripherals connected to an ArduPilot autopilot.
For an example of communicating with peripherals connected to an ArduPilot autopilot over I2C, see the Read Distance Using VL53L4CD ToF Sensor Over I2C with ArduPilot Autopilot example.
Use the DataFlash Log block to log Simulink signals to ArduPilot DataFlash logs on an SD card used by supported ArduPilot autopilots.
This block enables you to log Simulink signals together with standard ArduPilot flight
log data, such as sensor measurements, controller outputs, system performance, and flight
events. You can analyze the logged data using the ardupilotreader
object, the Flight Log Analyzer
app, or other supported ArduPilot log analysis tools.
You can now import a preconfigured Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distribution to set up the PX4 development environment. The distribution includes Ubuntu 22.04 with the PX4 firmware source code, build toolchain, and required dependencies preinstalled, so you can build and deploy PX4 firmware from Simulink without performing a manual environment setup.
During hardware setup, select Import pre-configured Ubuntu distribution for PX4 in the Choose Ubuntu Distribution Option screen.
The wizard guides you through downloading, importing, and validating the preconfigured distribution. For more information, see Use Preconfigured WSL Environment for PX4.
You can now log Simulink signals from PX4 targets directly to an SD card in a PX4 Autopilot board in
Measurement Data Format (MDF), with the .mf4 extension. To enable MDF
file logging, select Log signals to MDF file in the
Interface pane of the Simulink model configuration parameters. For more details, see MDF File Logging on PX4 Autopilots.
MDF file logging is an alternative to MAT file logging. MDF file logging enables you to capture internal Simulink signals and supports large, time-synchronized datasets with minimal runtime overhead. For an example, see the MDF File Logging on SD Card for PX4 Autopilots example.
The Visualize and Play Back MAVLink Flight Log in 3D Scenario example enables you to
replay the flight paths of two UAVs in a 3D scenario using a specified time interval. This
is an update to the Visualize and Play Back MAVLink Flight Log example in previous
releases. For more details on 3D scenarios, see scenario (Mapping Toolbox).
You can now import a preconfigured Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distribution to set up the PX4 development environment. The distribution includes Ubuntu 22.04 with the PX4 firmware source code, build toolchain, and required dependencies preinstalled, so you can build and deploy PX4 firmware from Simulink without performing a manual environment setup.
During hardware setup, select Import pre-configured Ubuntu distribution for PX4 in the Choose Ubuntu Distribution Option screen.
The wizard guides you through downloading, importing, and validating the preconfigured distribution. For more information, see Use Preconfigured WSL Environment for PX4.
The Run ArduPilot Software-in-the-Loop Simulation with Quadcopter Plant in Simulink example shows how to deploy a quadcopter controller design to an ArduPilot host target, and simulate the quadcopter plant model in Simulink.
The Waypoint Follower block now enables you to disable the linear interpolation of the desired yaw between waypoints for a multirotor UAV by setting the Yaw Interpolation parameter to
off. In prior releases, the yaw interpolation is always enabled.The block now enables you to output the waypoint index of the current straight line segment using the new Waypoint index port by selecting the Show Waypoint index output port parameter.
The UAV Animation block now has these new parameters:
Plot axis limits — Use this parameter to specify the axes limits of the output figure.
Max number of samples per trajectory — Use this parameter to specify the maximum number of samples that the block displays for each UAV trajectory.
Always open output figure at start of simulation — Select this parameter to configure the block to automatically open the figure when you start the simulation.
The show function of the uavCoverageSpace object now enables you to hide the number labels on polygons by
specifying the ShowLabel name-value argument as false or
0. Previously, the function always displayed the number labels.
You can now use the simulation 3D viewer interface to interact with the 3D environment and actors during simulation. The context menu enables you to select different views, show origins, save the 3D environment as MAT file, and create primitives. You can also use the context menu to set the simulation rendering quality to one of these options:
Auto — Best possible visual quality with current performance
Cinematic — ultra-high visual quality with slowest performance
Epic — Very-high visual quality with highest system requirements
High — High visual quality with high system requirements
Medium — Medium visual quality with low system requirements
Low — Lowest visual quality with lowest system requirements
For more information on using the simulation 3D viewer interface to interact with the 3D environment and actors, see Interact with 3D Simulation Environment.
If your Simulink model uses an Unreal Engine executable or project developed using a prior release of the UAV Toolbox Interface for Unreal Engine Projects, the simulation can return an error.
To migrate the project so that it is compatible with the R2026a version of the support package, see Migrate Projects Developed Using Prior Support Packages
The output figure of UAV Animation block now displays the UAV animation in the east-north-up (ENU)
coordinate system for all input coordinate frame that you specify using the Inertial frame z-axis direction parameter. Prior to R2026a, the
block animates in west-north-up coordinate system if you set the Inertial frame z-axis direction parameter to Down.
The flightLogSignalMapping object has new predefined signals and plots that you can
use to analyze EKF messages, such as for estimator status flags, EKF innovations, and wind
estimates.
Use the mapulog function to map PX4 ULOG messages to the predefined signals.
The Simulation 3D UAV Vehicle block can now simulate a custom tilt-rotor UAV with a specified motor rotation angle and rotor angular velocity for up to eight motor-rotor pairs.
For an example on how to visualize a tilt-rotor UAV in vertical takeoff and forward transition phase, see Visualize VTOL UAV Takeoff and Forward Transition.
Use the Multi-Instance Guidance Model block to simulate multiple small UAVs with reduced-order fixed-wing or multirotor kinematic models and autopilot controllers.
Use the barometerSensor
System object or Barometer block to simulate a barometer sensor and generate air pressure readings
with noise.
The VTOL UAV Controller Template now includes the new VTOL UAV Battery Sizing for Mission Over an Urban Environment example, which demonstrates how to select a battery size that maximizes the range of an eVTOL UAV for a mission over an urban environment..
Use the interp1 object function of the quaternion object to
interpolate quaternions using interpolation methods such as SQUAD and SLERP.
This figure visualizes interpolated quaternions on a unit sphere by using the sample and
interpolated quaternions to rotate a 3-D point. The annotated numbers on the points are the
sample points and query points that correspond to v and
vq, respectively.
The slerp object function of the quaternion object now supports
spherical interpolation using the "natural" path option, which avoids the
shortest path optimization, resulting in a longer path around the unit sphere that respects
the orientation of the start and end quaternions.
This figure visualizes the difference between the "short" and
"natural" interpolation methods by rotating a point using the
interpolated quaternions on a unit sphere.
You can now visualize the camera coverage of the Simulation 3D Camera block by using the Visualize field of view and Field of view range parameters.
The VTOL UAV Controller Template has been updated with a new example that demonstrates how to improve the hover performance of the Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) UAV by tuning the hover control design in the presence of a constant wind. For more information, visit Tune Hover Control Design for VTOL UAV in Steady Wind Condition.
The addMesh function of the uavScenario object now supports
adding Suburban or US
City Block scenes to a UAV scenario for flight trajectory design. Import
trajectories into the 3D simulation environment in Simulink using the Read UAV Trajectory block.
For an example, see Simulate UAV Scenario Trajectory in Unreal Engine Environment.
Evaluate UAV formation quality in applications, such as drone shows, agricultural
missions, etc. by creating a uavFormationMetrics object and using the metrics function to obtain connectivity, order, safety, and union metrics.
Obtain formation graphs and inter-UAV distances by using the formationInfo function.
You can now use the UAV Animation block to visualize multiple UAVs and markers. For an example of using markers to visualize the lookahead point of a waypoint-following controller, see the Tuning Waypoint Follower for Fixed-Wing UAV example.
Starting in R2024b, you can use the PX4 Actuator Write block in your Simulink model to write motor and servo actuator values over the PWM and UAVCAN interfaces. This block is available in the PX4 Peripheral Blocks library in the UAV Toolbox Support Package for PX4 Autopilots.
This release contains a new example on how you can simulate multiple UAVs in a waypoint following mission. Use this example as a reference to simulate formation flights, swarm mission, and other missions that requires simulating multiple UAVs. For more information, visit Simulate Multiple Fixed-Wing UAVs in Simulink Using System Objects
The Survey Urban Environment Using UAV example has been updated to provide more information on how to calculate the coverage width of the camera.
You can now deploy the VTOL UAV controller template to PX4 hardware for Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL)
simulation. For more information, see PX4 Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) Simulation and Visualization with VTOL
You can now model wind effects in a UAV scenario by creating uavWindSteady, uavWindGust, or uavWindTurbulence objects, then adding the wind object to the UAV platform using
addWind function. Obtain the wind velocity in the UAV platform body frame by
using the windVelocity function while scenario simulation is running. Generating wind
samples for UAV platform in MATLAB requires an Aerospace Toolbox license. Generating wind samples for a UAV platform in Simulink requires an Aerospace Blockset™ license.
You can now use the Flight Log Analyzer app to visualize the flight trajectory and attitude of a UAV in 3D by enabling 3D Map from the app toolstrip. The 3D map requires a Mapping Toolbox™ license.
The Suburban scene asset now has a stencil ID that enables you to perform semantic segmentation using the Simulation 3D Camera block. For an example of semantic segmentation in a UAV simulation, see Depth and Semantic Segmentation Visualization Using Unreal Engine Simulation.
This release contains a new example on how to simulate a UAV Scenario with different
wind conditions. For more information, visit Simulate UAV Waypoint Following with Different Wind Conditions
The Flight Log Analyzer app now enables you to crop and resample the signal that you choose to export in the Export Signal dialog box. To crop the signal, enable the Time Cropping option and specify the time cropping limits. To resample the signal, enable the Sampling Rate option and specify the sampling rate in Hz.
Use the Design and Tune Controller for VTOL UAV to design and tune a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAV using a reference application template as a MATLAB Project
Use the UAV coverage planner object, uavCoveragePlanner, to plan optimal paths through regions of interest and export
the waypoints to a .txt or .waypoints file. Use the
uavCoverageSpace object to define a region as a coverage space. You can use
these objects to capture data of defined regions using onboard UAV sensors, such as a
camera, for applications such as precision agriculture, area surveying, and image
mapping.
The Flight Log Analyzer app has been updated with these enhancements:
The Flight Log Analyzer app now enables you to add additional log signals from files of the supported formats (
.ulog, and.tlog) from within the app. Custom signal mapping enables you to map any signal available in the log data within the app. You can specify signal names, scale the signal values, and provide signal units. Once you have successfully mapped a custom signal, you can visualize the signal using custom plots. Click Add Custom Signal to open the Add Custom Signal dialog box.
You can now explore plot data interactively using the Data Cursor. In the app toolstrip, select Data Cursor to add a handle to the Panner, that you can drag, and data tips to the plot, which are small text boxes that display information about individual data points. You can use the data cursor with Timeseries plots, and on Map View.
Use the uavMission object to design or import UAV missions for multirotor and fixed-wing
UAVs. Import UAV missions from plan files (.plan) or waypoint files
(.waypoints) and add mission actions using object functions such as
addTakeoff and addWaypoint. Use the fixedwingMissionParser and multirotorMissionParser mission parser objects to generate flight trajectories
as fixedwingFlightTrajectory and multirotorFlightTrajectory objects, respectively. For more information, see
Simulate UAV Mission in Urban Environment.
The Flight Log Analyzer app has been updated with these enhancements:
The Flight Log Analyzer app now supports custom annotations. Custom annotation enables you to write custom functions to label plots with region of interest (ROI) and point labels. The Function Gallery shows all of the custom functions you add. You can use the Annotation pane to interact with the labels and display them on the plots. You can export the annotations and signals to workspace as
labeledSignalSetobjects.Improved filtering of the
ulogreaderobject, themavlinktlogobject, and aflightLogSignalMappingobject with custom log data from other variables when importing them from the workspace.The Signal Browser pane now opens as a window when you double-click the data field of the desired signal in the Signals pane.
The Left and Right boxes in the Panner pane have been renamed to From (sec) and To (sec), respectively. The boxes are now enabled only when a log file has been loaded into the app.
The Name box in the Details pane is now either Plot name or Figure name depending on the item selected in the Figures pane.
Plot name — Select a plot item in the Figures pane.
Figure name — Select a figure item in the Figures pane.
The addMesh function of the uavScenario object now supports verbose OSM import using a name-value argument.
Specify Verbose as true to print or store import
information, such as the total number of imported buildings.
scene = uavScenario(ReferenceLocation=[40.707088 -74.012146 0]); addMesh(scene,"terrain",{"gmted2010",[-1000 1000],[-1000 1000]},[0.6 0.6 0.6]) addMesh(scene,"buildings",{"manhattan.osm",[-800 800],[-800 800],"auto"},[0 1 0],Verbose=1) show3D(scene);
Importing C:\...\matlab\toolbox\shared\openstreetmapdata\manhattan.osm Latitude range (degree): [40.701 40.7182] Longitude range (degree): [-74.0188 -74.0003] Imported 657 out of 836 buildings UAV Scenario Reference Latitude (degree): 40.7071 UAV Scenario Reference Longitude (degree): -74.0121
The Suburban scene is an Unreal Engine® environment of a suburban area that contains houses with backyards, trees, power poles, and vehicles on the road.
Interactively design and visualize UAV Scenarios for path planning and control algorithms using the UAV Scenario Designer. Import terrain, pick and place simple and complex geometries to create a complex scene. Add multiple drones to the scenario and assign trajectories. Visualize drone moving through scenario. Place sensors on your UAV and simulate the scenario before exporting to MATLAB or Simulink.
