Adaptive Control Applied to Missile Autopilots

An indirect adaptive control scheme is applied to the design of an autopilot for missiles using bank-to-turn steering. Controller design is based on a discretization of the short-period approximation to the linearized longitudinal motion. Parameter estimation is based on a first-order vector ARMA representation of the discretized system. Controller gains are derived in terms of functions of the estimated system parameters with the objective of the control to achieve tracking of a commanded acceleration with stability of the closed-loop system.