Advanced Control of Aircraft

Advanced Control of Aircraft, Spacecraft and Rockets introduces the reader to the concepts of modern control theory applied to the design and analysis of general flight control systems in a concise and mathematically rigorous style. It presents a comprehensive treatment of both atmospheric and space flight control systems including aircraft, rockets (missiles and launch vehicles), entry vehicles and spacecraft (both orbital and attitude control). The broad coverage of topics emphasizes the synergies among the various flight control systems and attempts to show their evolution from the same set of physical principles as well as their design and analysis by similar mathematical tools. In addition, this book presents state-of-art control system design methods - including multivariable, optimal, robust, digital and nonlinear strategies - as applied to modern flight control systems. Advanced Control of Aircraft, Spacecraft and Rockets features worked examples and problems at the end of each chapter as well as a number of MATLAB/ Simulink examples housed on an accompanying website at http://home.iitk.ac.in/~ashtew that are realistic and representative of the state-of-the-art in flight control. Presents a unified approach to aircraft, rocket and spacecraft flight control systems Includes chapters on nonlinear, optimal control techniques with numerical solution methods, robust and adaptive guidance, navigation, and attitude control for atmospheric and space flight vehicles Allows the reader to test their grasp of the concepts presented via numerous pedagogical features including worked-out examples and problems at the end of each chapter, as well as case studies, short 'knowledge-check' questions, and longer assignments including coding and examination questions  Appropriate for both intermediate and advanced level courses on automatic control of aircraft, spacecraft, and rocket, with emphasis on non-trivial, multi-variable applications.