Nonlinear Maneuver Regulation for Reduced-G Atmospheric Flight

A maneuver regulation controller for reduced gravity vertical flight is developed using intuition based on an internal model of the quadratically increasing (in time) aerodynamic drag. This leads to a controller employing a chain of three integrators. Since the drag “disturbance” actually results from a nonlinear feedback, the usual linear stability analysis is insufficient. The proper framework is found using a transverse coordinate system about the desired maneuver, where one may show that the maneuver is in fact exponentially attractive. Experimental performance of the resulting control system is also presented.