Robust and adaptive control of a rocket boosted missile

This paper is an exposition on the design of robust observer-based adaptive autopilots for aerospace systems. Using a rocket boosted missile as an example, we will discuss systematic design principles to meet closed-loop autopilot robustness and performance criteria. The controller consists of decoupled lateral and longitudinal linear gain scheduled optimal baseline designs with servomechanism acceleration tracking and observer-based adaptive augmentation. We will demonstrate improved robustness with observer-based adaption to various uncertainties including significant discrepancies in aerodynamic coefficients, center of gravity shifts, and actuator failures. These results support the practicality of observer-based adaptive output feedback laws for the control design of uncertain aerodynamic systems.