Design and evaluation of robust nonlinear missile autopilots from a performance perspective

In this paper a general uncertainty model for a nonlinear missile system is developed, which assumes uncertainties in all aerodynamic force and moment generating terms in the equations of motion. These uncertainties are then bounded and used as a deterministic model in the design of two robust nonlinear missile autopilots. The first approach is an input/output linearized robust controller design, and the second is a recursive robust nonlinear controller design. The general uncertainty model is then used to define limited bandwidth stochastic perturbations for the evaluation of these autopilots. The resulting performance evaluations and comparisons are obtained through computer simulation and by Monte Carlo analysis.