AEROSPACE GUIDANCE PROBLEMS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY SIGNIFICANT NON-LINEARITIES WHICH MAKE TRAJECTORIES DIFFICULT TO COMPUTE AND TYPICALLY REQUIRE THE VEHICLE TO CLOSELY FOLLOW THE REFERENCE TRAJECTORY IN ORDER FOR THE GUIDANCE SYSTEM TO REMAIN VALID. THE MOST COMMON WAY TO APPROACH THESE GUIDANCE PROBLEMS IS THROUGH THE USE OF A PREDICTOR-CORRECTOR METHOD. WHILE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL TO DATE THE PERFORMANCE IS STILL LIMITED BY THE ASSUMPTIONS BUILT INTO THE ALGORITHMS IN USE. ONE MAJOR SOURCE OF ERROR THAT REMAINS IS DUE TO INACCURATE PREDICTION STEPS DUE TO UNCERTAINTIES IN THE SYSTEM DYNAMICS. FOR EDL PROBLEMS THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTIES IN THE ENVIRONMENT DUE TO ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS AS WELL AS IN THE VEHICLE CONTROL DUE TO MODELING UNCERTAINTIES. EVEN IF THE PREDICTION PROBLEM IS ADDRESSED THE CONTROL STILL MUST BE CAPABLE OF FINDING A VALID SOLUTION TO NULL ANY TARGETING ERRORS. THIS PROPOSAL WILL RECOMMEND METHODS FOR IMPROVING BOTH ASPECTS OF THE PREDICTOR-CORRECTOR ALGORITHM FOR EDL GUIDANCE APPLICATIONS BASED ON ADVANCES IN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SYSTEM DYNAMICS AND CONTROL METHODS.
$599,111FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
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