Open Source Summit + Embedded Linux Conference North America 2026

Many flight‑control and autonomy programs still begin with hardware prototyping, only to discover late in development that controller tuning, transition behavior, and system coupling are difficult to resolve without a reliable model. This session presents a practical simulation‑to‑flight workflow based on recent university flight‑test research, demonstrating why starting with simulation is critical for reducing risk and accelerating development while helping teams avoid costly UAV crashes and hardware damage. Using a subscale eVTOL case study, we show how aerodynamic modeling, propulsion modeling, and six‑degree‑of‑freedom dynamics are integrated into a digital twin that directly informs control‑law design, hardware deployment, and flight testing. The workflow culminates in direct PX4 implementation and a comparison of simulation predictions against real flight‑test data across hover, transition, and forward flight, highlighting close agreement between model and reality. The talk emphasizes how a simulation‑first approach enables faster iteration, safer testing, and more predictable flight performance for the broader aerospace and UAS community.