Case Study: Airnamics achieves faster, safer UAS development with MathWorks Model-Based Design (MATLAB & Simulink)

Airnamics Develops Unmanned Aerial System for Close-Range Filming with Model-Based Design

Airnamics, a small three‑engineer company building the R5 unmanned aerial system for close‑range cinematic filming, faced the challenge of designing a safe, reliable fly‑by‑wire and flight management system while relying on slow, handwritten C code and limited high‑fidelity simulation capability. Needing faster development, better debugging, and certification‑ready software, Airnamics turned to MathWorks tools to accelerate development and improve system safety and performance.

Using MathWorks’ Model‑Based Design with MATLAB and Simulink (plus toolboxes and Simulink Coder/Real‑Time), Airnamics built high‑fidelity plant and control models, ran closed‑loop simulations (including failures and wind gusts), generated and deployed real‑time code to onboard hardware, and iterated between flights using recorded data. The MathWorks solution cut time‑to‑market by up to an order of magnitude, reduced debugging from weeks to hours, and enabled rapid resolution of flight anomalies while producing safer, higher‑quality control software.

Airnamics

Marko Thaler

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer