CHAPTER NINE

CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SMC AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS

1. The fundamental objective in the autopilot design for missile systems is to

provide satisfactory stability, performance, and robustness for all flight conditions
which may occur in probable engagements. In view of the uncertainties in
aerodynamic parameters, the cross coupling effects, nonlinearities and
measurement inaccuracies, the task of guaranteeing stability and performance
throughout the flight envelope is a challenging one. Classically, missile autopilots
are designed using linear control approaches. In general, the missile dynamics is
linearized around certain finite number of operating points in the flight envelope.
For each linearization, a linear time invariant controller is obtained, which in the
local region of the fixed operating point delivers the desired performance
characteristics. Gain scheduling, is then employed to deliver the performance in
the complete flight envelope of the missile. To this end, the linear control
techniques have dominated missile autopilot design over the past several
decades [1]–[3]. For medium- and long-range missiles, in general, the flight
envelopes are so large that gain scheduling is inevitable. Thus, the conventional
autopilot design with gain scheduling causes the design process to be time-
consuming and tedious. It is obvious that various modern control methods based
on time-invariant, linear models do not help this problem.

2. Lately, to cater for large uncertainties, various robust control techniques

such as H∞ and µ analysis [3–6] has been used to design robust autopilots.
Although design of autopilots by linearizing the missile dynamics is one of the
most prominent approach, the controller thus designed may offer unsatisfactory
performance especially when the dynamics is highly nonlinear and undergoes
large motion. The ever increasing high performance and greater maneuverability
requirement now demand that the missiles operate in regimes of large angles
and angular rates where nonlinearities are dominant. For example, the missiles
having wingless configurations will need to execute high angle of attack
maneuvers to generate the desired acceleration levels. Under these
circumstances, the assumption of small motion about operating point do not hold
true and so one need to employ nonlinear approaches for designing of missile
autopilots. Various theories have been developed for design of controllers for
nonlinear dynamic systems and applications of the same for missile autopilot
designs. Owing to the highly nonlinear dynamics, various nonlinear approaches
such as the Feedback Linearization (FL) [8], Predictive Control [9], Sliding Mode
Control [10] have been proposed for the designing of the missile autopilot. The
issue of robustness in nonlinear controllers has also been addressed widely.

3. Apart from the highly nonlinear dynamics, the problem areas in the design
of missile autopilots broadly include the following: -

(a) Controllers based on state feedback require availability of states.

For example, in the design of the pitch autopilot, the state vector
consists of angle of attack, pitch rate and control surface deflection.
While pitch rate and control surface deflection can be measured
angle of attack is not available for measurement. This necessitates
design of observer.

(b) Secondly, due to the non-minimum phase characteristics of

acceleration dynamics, frequently the controllers are designed with
angle of attack as output instead of the acceleration. The desired
acceleration command is translated into an equivalent desired
angle of attack command and the controller is asked to track the
same. Obviously such an approach may result into inferior
performance whenever the requirements of desired acceleration
are not translated accurately in terms of the desired angle of attack.
 (c) Almost all robustification techniques require some knowledge in
terms of bounds of the uncertainty. This requires estimation of the
uncertainty in such a way as to cancel out the unknown dynamics
and disturbances.

Thus sliding mode control is found to address all the above issues and can
provide a robust controller by proper design. Some methods based on research
papers are discussed below.

4. A new design based on the Extended State Observer (ESO) technique is

proposed for the pitch autopilot of a tail controlled, skid-to-turn missile [ ]. The
ESO simultaneously estimates the state and the uncertainty. A notable feature of
the proposed controller is that, unlike many modern controllers, it works for non-
minimum phase systems. As the controller structure becomes more complex, it
requires more information on state variables. In particular, it is important to know
the wind angles, i.e., the angle of attack and side slip angle, as they are used in a
feedback control system. In fact, several state variables such as acceleration,
angular rate, dynamic pressure, and missile speed can be measured rather
accurately through instruments such as accelerometers, the Inertial Navigation
System (INS) including rate gyros, and barometers. However, the measurement
of the wind angles is not general, since the angle of attack and sideslip angle are
not readily available due to the existence of measurement noise and the
vulnerability of the sensor to mechanical damage [4]. Thus, the practical design
of autopilots utilizes the values of wind angles estimated from the measured
angular rates and accelerations.

5. An observer-based control approach for the acceleration control of tail-

controlled skid-to-turn (STT) missiles [ ] is proposed to provide a solution to
overcoming the drawbacks of existing nonlinear missile controllers that it is
needed to know the values of wind angles (angle of attack and sideslip angle). A
nonlinear observer for wind angles is designed using a parametric affine missile
model developed by the authors, where the coupling term between the lateral
and longitudinal motion is also considered. Using the wind angle estimate, we
can design the observer-based controller to show the desired acceleration
tracking performance.

6. Future missile systems will be required to possess higher turn rates and
larger maneuverability envelopes, while simultaneously requiring reduced
storage and signature volumes. In this respect, efforts are under way to evaluate
alternate means of missile control as opposed to purely aerodynamic control [1],
[2]. Several technology payoffs can be envisioned if alternate control strategies
are implemented. Some of them are: -

(a) Smaller fin sizes that decrease stowage volume for internal
carriage, especially important for the type of fighters currently being
developed.

(b) Increased maneuverability and off-boresight capability for an

improved all-aspect defensive shield.

(c) High angle of attack launch capability to match improved aircraft

agility.

(d) Improved end-game performance (higher g-levels).

7. The achievement of these payoffs poses difficult challenges to the control

system designer since the design has to encompass all phases of flight. For
example, during separation from the launch aircraft, an increase in pitch-up
tendencies can be expected due to lack of sufficient aerodynamic stabilization
(smaller fins). After safe separation, the system may be required to perform fast
180 turns to defend against and engage rear hemisphere positioned threats and
targets. During the endgame, the reduced aerodynamic control effectiveness due
to smaller fin sizes must be appropriately compensated in order to generate
sufficient load factors in a very short time.

8. This loss in control power due to reduced aerodynamic effectiveness of

the missile must be compensated for and/or improved by using alternate control
technologies. Possible options are propulsion based control in the form of thrust
vectoring (TVC) [ ] and/or a reaction jet control system (RCS) [ ]. This requires
the potential modifications involving the implementation of propulsion control and
its integration with aerodynamic surfaces. Ajay Thukral and Mario Innocenti in
Ref.[ ] have proposed a solution using reaction jets. The paper discusses a high
angle of attack maneuver as the test scenario and in particular, a two-
dimensional heading reversal trajectory in the longitudinal plane as shown in
figure below.
9. The missile configuration is as shown in figure below: -

10. Variable structure control (VSC) methods are suggested for the control
design for several reasons. First of all, the maneuver characteristics present
nonlinear dynamics with large parameter variations. Second, the autopilot will
require high gain capabilities, due to the maneuver requirements in terms of time
of steady state acquisition. Third, the use of reaction jets, as the main component
of the actuation system, leads naturally to the implementation of nonlinear, relay-
type logic. VSC, with due care, is one of the methodologies capable of
addressing all these issues in a structured framework.

11. From the simulation results shown in the paper [ ] the advantage of using
RCS in conjunction with fins is evident, as shown by figure below. The turn radius
is of the order of 15 000 feet and the time necessary for the maneuver is about
50 s. Dynamic pressure loss is recovered by the main engine according to the
attitude of the missile, or by performing the maneuver during boost phase.
Autopilot performance are validated via nonlinear simulation, showing the
robustness with respect to aerodynamic uncertainties and speed variations.
Current work [20] indicates that the autopilot gains do not require scheduling
even in the presence of varying flight conditions (initial reference speed), reaction
jet thrust, and main engine main thrust values. Future work is directed toward the
extension of the design to the three-dimensional case, to the selection of the best
VSC structure, and to the problem of output feedback, since the autopilot
presented in this work assumes full state availability.