Optimization and Systems Theory Seminar
Tuesday, June 10, 1997, 11.00-12.00, Room 3721, Lindstedtsvägen 25


Dr. George Meyer
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffet Field, CA
USA

Guidance of nonlinear systems (first seminar)

The paper describes a method for guiding a dynamic system through a given set of points. The paradigm is a fully automatic aircraft subject to air traffic control (ATC). The ATC provides a sequence of way points through which the aircraft trajectory must pass. The way points typically specify time, position, and velocity. The guidance problem is to synthesize a system state trajectory which satisfies both the ATC and aircraft constraints. Complications arise because the controlled process is multi-dimensional, multi-axis, nonlinear, highly coupled, and the state space is not flat. In addition, there is a multitude of possible operating modes, which may number in the hundreds. Each such mode defines a distinct state space model of the process by specifying the state space coordinatization, the partition of the controls into active controls and configuration controls, and the output map. Furthermore, mode transitions must be smooth.

The guidance algorithm is based on the inversion of the pure feedback approximations, which is followed by iterative corrections for the effects of zero dynamics. The paper describes the structure and modules of the algorithm, and the performance is illustrated by several example aircraft maneuvers. The first lecture will introduce the subject and formulate the problem. A possible solution and applications will be described in the second lecture.


Calendar of seminars
Last update: June 2, 1997 by Anders Forsgren, andersf@math.kth.se.