Three-dimensional nonsingular impact angle guidance strategy with physical constraints.

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC)
• Robotics

Background:

• Intercepting stationary targets with specific impact angles is crucial for missile systems.
• Existing guidance strategies face challenges with nonlinear dynamics, field-of-view (FOV) limitations, and lateral acceleration constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop two novel, nonsingular three-dimensional (3D) guidance strategies for impact-angle-constrained interception.
• To ensure target lock-on is maintained throughout the guidance process.
• To address nonlinear coupled dynamics and system constraints.

Main Methods:

• Design of two novel sliding mode surfaces for guaranteed convergence and boundedness.
• Development of an auxiliary system to compensate for input saturation effects.
• Analytical determination of the achievable impact angles set based on initial conditions.

Main Results:

• The proposed sliding mode surfaces ensure impact-angle-constrained interception while maintaining seeker lock-on.
• The auxiliary system effectively compensates for input saturation.
• Numerical simulations validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the strategies under various constraints and a realistic missile model.

Conclusions:

• The developed guidance strategies are effective for achieving desired impact angles under complex constraints.
• The study provides a robust framework for missile guidance systems facing nonlinear dynamics and operational limitations.