Moving mass actuated reentry vehicle control based on trajectory linearization

The flight control of re-entry vehicles poses a challenge to conventional gain-scheduled flight controllers due to the widely spread aerodynamic coefficients. In addition, a wide range of uncertainties in disturbances must be accommodated by the control system. This paper presents the design of a roll channel controller for a non-axisymmetric reentry vehicle model using the trajectory linearization control (TLC) method. The dynamic equations of a moving mass system and roll control model are established using the Lagrange method. Nonlinear tracking and decoupling control by trajectory linearization can be viewed as the ideal gain-scheduling controller designed at every point along the flight trajectory. It provides robust stability and performance at all stages of the flight without adjusting controller gains. It is this "plug-and-play" feature that is highly preferred for developing, testing and routine operating of the re-entry vehicles. Although the controller is designed only for nominal aerodynamic coefficients, excellent performance is verified by simulation for wind disturbances and variations from -30% to +30% of the aerodynamic coefficients.