Integrated Guidance and Control of Moving Mass Actuated Kinetic Energy Kill Vehicles

The concept of moving internal masses to control kinetic energy kill vehicles has been proposed in the recent literature. These actuators effect changes in the location of the vehicle center of mass to create aerodynamic control moments while the vehicleis in the atmosphere, and the main motor thrust to create control moments when the vehicle is outside the atmosphere. This proposal advances the development of an integrated guidance-control system for kinetic energy kill vehicles using moving-masscontrol concept. A detailed simulation of the moving-mass actuator kinetic energy kill vehicle will be used to assess the performance of the integrated guidance-control system in a variety of endo-atmospheric and exo-atmospheric interception scenarios.Actuation methodologies for the moving-mass system will also be explored during the Phase I research. Phase II research will generate the design of the moving-mass actuator systems for kinetic energy kill vehicle, together with detailed hardwarespecifications and simulation results. The control code for the implementation of flight control systems will also be synthesized during the Phase II research. The design generated during the Phase II research can form the basis for the development of aprototype moving-mass kinetic energy kill vehicle during Phase III work. Moving-mass control technology can be applied in a wide variety of flight vehicles and underwater vehicles. Integrated flight control system design methods developed under the presentwork have extensive applications in high performance aircraft and missile control.