Pitch control of the space shuttle training aircraft

Author

Berenji, Hamid R. ; Saraf, Sujit ; Chang, Ping-Wei ; Swanson, Steven R.

Author_Institution

Comput. Sci. Div., NASA Ames Res. Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA

Volume

9

Issue

3

fYear

2001

fDate

5/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

542

Lastpage

551

Abstract

A set of shuttle training aircrafts (STAs) are used by NASA to train astronaut pilots to land the space shuttle after returning from orbit. The STA simulates the dynamics of the much larger and heavier space shuttle with the help of some hardware and software modifications. We present a STA controller that tracks the shuttle pitch trajectory. Our control system includes a feedforward controller based on zero phase error tracking control and a fuzzy proportional derivative (PD) feedback controller. Test results on a ground hardware simulator used at the Ellington Field of NASA Johnson Space Center show that the new controller significantly reduces pitch following errors between the shuttle and the STA, when compared to the existing controller

Keywords

attitude control; dynamics; feedforward; fuzzy control; space vehicles; two-term control; Ellington Field; NASA Johnson Space Center; astronaut pilots; feedforward controller; fuzzy proportional derivative feedback controller; ground hardware simulator; pitch control; pitch following errors; space shuttle training aircraft; zero phase error tracking control; Aerospace control; Aircraft; Control systems; Error correction; Hardware; NASA; PD control; Proportional control; Space shuttles; Trajectory;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Control Systems Technology, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1063-6536

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/87.918906

Filename

918906