This invention discloses an adaptive
terrain-following flight control method and
system for railway unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that integrates multi-source
terrain data and a data-driven model. The method utilizes an
extended Kalman filter to estimate the change in rotational
inertia online, dynamically correcting a preset initial dynamic model to obtain a dynamic
baseline model. Simultaneously, it integrates multi-source
terrain data to generate a terrain-following flight reference altitude surface that considers the track's geometric characteristics, using the track centerline as a constraint. Vertical and horizontal trajectories are planned based on the surface curvature, and dynamic
yaw angles are calculated. A
Gaussian process-enhanced prediction model is constructed, incorporating aerodynamic parameter perturbation learning and L1 adaptive laws into the
nonlinear model predictive controller. An inner and outer loop cascaded architecture is used to solve for total lift and three-axis torque control quantities. Flight is driven by a pseudo-inverse assignment matrix mapped to
rotor speed commands, and a safe distance is monitored in real
time to trigger replanning. This method solves the problems of model mismatch and
environmental adaptation in complex environments, improving
flight safety and trajectory tracking accuracy.