ATI's Missile Autopilots course

Summary: This applications-oriented course provides a comprehensive overview of missile autopilots. The course begins with an overview of the missile equations of motion and aerodynamic model followed by a review of linear system theory including frequency response and Bode plots, root locus, and stability criteria, and compensator design. This introductory material is followed by detailed discussion of modern missile autopilot design topics including hardware and hardware modeling, autopilot design requirements, and autopilot design examples. The remainder of the course focuses on 'real world' issues such as nonlinearities, gain scheduling, discretization, pitch-yaw-roll autopilot design, and other advanced concepts. Examples are included throughout the course. Instructor: Paul Jackson is the supervisor of the Engineering and Development Section of the Guidance, Navigation, and Control Group at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and is the APL Lead for Standard Missile-6 Guidance Section Integrated Product Team. Since joining the staff of APL in 1988, he has worked as an analyst on missile guidance and control systems, particularly for the US Navy Tomahawk and Standard missiles. His early contributions came as a member of the APL team that was among the first to demonstrate the application of modern robust control techniques such as H-Infinity Control and Mu-Synthesis to the missile autopilot design problem. Subsequent experience includes the design, analysis, and simulation of missile autopilot and guidance algorithms and hardware. Mr. Jackson has presented papers at AIAA and the IEEE conferences and is a former member of the AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Technical Committee. What you will learn: The underlying physics governing missile dynamics. Theory and applications for autopilot design and optimization. Autopilot requirements and design trade-offs between performance and robustness. Choosing autopilot implementation approaches. Applications to real-world missile systems. Fundamentals for autopilot design and analysis with emphasis on linear systems. Missile dynamics including aerodynamic modeling. Feedback, feedback design criteria, types of feedback, compensator design. Autopilot hardware modeling including actuators, gyros, and accelerometers. Pitch Autopilot Design. Pitch-Yaw-Roll Autopilot Design. Advanced Design and Analysis Techniques. Course Outline: Overview of Missile Autopilots — Definitions, Types of Autopilots, Example Applications. Equations of Motion — Coordinate Systems, Transformations, Euler Angles, Force Equations, Moment Equations, Aerodynamic Variables, Linearization, Aerodynamics. Linear Systems — State Variables, Block Diagrams, Laplace Transforms, Transfer Functions, Impulse Response, Step Response, Stability, Second Order Systems, Frequency Response, Root Locus, Nyquist Stability Theory. Feedback Control — Need for Feedback, Design Criteria, Types of Feedback, Compensator Design via Root Locus, Compensator Design via Frequency Response. Autopilot Hardware — Actuators, Principles of the Gyro, Gyro Modeling, Principles of Accelerometers, Accelerometer Modeling. Pitch Autopilot Design — Time Domain Requirements, Frequency Domain Requirements, Acceleration Feedback, Acceleration and Rate Feedback, Pitch Over Autopilot, Three-Loop Autopilot. Implementation Issues — Body Modes, Actuator Saturation, Integrator Windup, Gain Scheduling, Discretization. Pitch-Yaw-Roll Autopilot Design — Classical Approach, Skid-to-Turn, Bank-to-Turn, Design Examples. Advanced Concepts — Multivariable Stability Analysis, LQR Optimal Control, Modern Robust Control Design Techniques. Tuition: Tuition for this four-day course is $1595 per person at one of our scheduled public courses. Onsite pricing is available. Please call us at 410-956-8805 or send an email to ati@ATIcourses.com. Register Now Without Obligation