System identification and trajectory optimization for guided store separation

Combat aircraft utilize expendable stores such as missiles, bombs, flares, and external tanks to execute their missions. Safe and acceptable separation of these stores from the parent aircraft is essential for meeting the mission objectives. In many cases, the employed missile or bomb includes an onboard guidance and control system to enable precise engagement of the selected target. Due to potential interference, the guidance and control system is usually not activated until the store is sufficiently far away from the aircraft. This delay may result in large perturbations from the desired flight attitude caused by separation transients, significantly reducing the effectiveness of the store and jeopardizing mission objectives. The purpose of this research is to investigate the use of a transitional control system to guide the store during separation. The transitional control system, or "store separation autopilot", explicitly accounts for the nonuniform flow field through characterization of the spatially variant aerodynamics of the store during separation. This approach can be used to mitigate aircraft-store interference and leverage aerodynamic interaction to improve separation characteristics.;This investigation proceeds in three phases. First, system identification is used to determine a parametric model for the spatially variant aerodynamics. Second, the store separation problem is recast into a trajectory optimization problem, and optimal control theory is used to establish a framework for designing a suitable reference trajectory with explicit dependence on the spatially variant aerodynamics. Third, neighboring optimal control is used to construct a linear-optimal feedback controller for correcting deviations from the nominal reference trajectory due varying initial conditions, modeling errors, and flowfield perturbations. An extended case study based on actual wind tunnel and flight test measurements is used throughout to illustrate the effectiveness of the approach and to highlight the anticipated benefits of guided store separation.