Using an adaptive autopilot for flight control system performance improvement

Classically designed interceptor autopilots which use proportional and integral controllers with rate and position feedback have traditionally been the standard design approach. Although adequate for most situations, there are certain scenarios where the body bending effects of the divert thrusters and the mass property variation due to divert thruster firings reduce the effectiveness of these traditional control laws. Under such conditions, second order body bending filters and associated synthetic feedback techniques need to be added in the loop in order to maintain adequate body stability and gain margin. In this effort, we propose augmenting the classical controller and associated filters with a direct adaptive control system to ameliorate the effects of body bending, system delay, and changes in interceptor dynamics