You are here

Adaptive Guidance System for Hypersonic Vehicles with Reconfigurable Inner-Loop Control

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Air Force
Contract: F33615-01-C-3114
Agency Tracking Number: 001VA-3716
Amount: $742,514.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 2001
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
1160 Pepsi Place, Suite 300
Charlottesville, VA 22901
United States
DUNS: 120839477
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 John Schierman
 Research Scientist
 (804) 973-1215
 schierman@bainet.com
Business Contact
 David Ward
Title: President
Phone: (804) 973-1215
Email: barron@bainet.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

Reconfiguration for reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) presents a number of unique challenges not addressed in prior fixed-wing reconfigurable controls work, including the need to adapt trajectory profiles quickly to achieve revised mission objectives safely.Barron Associates, Inc. (BAI) has teamed with Orbital Sciences Corporation to develop a continuously adaptive-reconfigurable guidance system for hypersonic RLV systems. This innovative modular guidance technique autonomously identifies degradedinner-closed-loop performance and adapts both the guidance gains and reference trajectories for the compromised system to maintain stability and achieve the mission objectives. One significant advantage of the approach is that it can providereconfiguration to existing guidance and control loops without requiring a major re-design. In the Phase I research to date, the team has demonstrated the proof of concept in X-34 simulations, concentrating on drag uncertainties and elevon and speed brakefailures during the approach-to-landing phase of the RLV mission. The proposed Phase II effort will extend the approach to address (1) the full three-axis dynamics, (2) a broader class of failures and uncertainties, and (3) additional mission segmentsincluding hypersonic flight. Additionally, the team will demonstrate the algorithms using both high fidelity simulations and real time hardware-in-the-loop simulations at Orbital.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

US Flag An Official Website of the United States Government