Trajectory Correction Flight Control System using Pulsejeton an Artillery Rocket

Abstract

A trajectory correction flight control system is small and durable, and consists of a lateralpulsejet ring mounted on the rocket body. The pulsejet ring consists of a finite number of individualpulsejets. Each pulsejet on the ring imparts a single, short-duration, large force to the rocket inthe plane normal to the rocket axis of symmetry. Lateral pulsejets are used by flight controlsystem to assist the rocket to follow a pre-specified (command) trajectory. The trajectory-trackingflight control system computes the position error by comparing the measured position of therocket with the pre-specified trajectory. In actual application, the position of the rocket couldbe measured using in-house inertial measurement unit (IMU) or by ground-based-tracking radarsystem located at the firing site. A study has been undertaken to explore the feasibility of reducingthe impact point dispersion of a routinely-used artillery rocket using lateral pulsejets coupledto a trajectory correction flight control system. Simulation studies have been conducted to arriveat tuning parameters, namely the tracking error window size, the required elapsed time betweenthe pulsejet firings and the angle of tolerance between the tracking error and the individualpulsejet force. Further, the robustness of the methodology wrt measurement noise has also beenevaluated.

Defence Science Journal, 2008, 58(1), pp.15-33, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.58.1621