Robust adaptive constrained backstepping flight controller design for re-entry reusable launch vehicle under input constraint

A nonlinear constrained controller is designed for a reusable launch vehicle during re-entry phase in the presence of model uncertainty, external disturbance, and input constraint, via combining sliding mode control and adaptive backstepping control. Since the complex coupling between the translational and rotational dynamics of reusable launch vehicle, a control-oriented model derived from rotational dynamic is used for controller design. During the virtual control input design procedure, a dynamic robust term is utilized to compensate for the uncertainty. In addition, a filter is applied to handle “explosion of terms” problem during the actual control input design. To reduce the computational burden, adaptive law is used to evaluate the unknown norm bound of the lumped uncertainty. An auxiliary system is constructed to compensate for the input constraint effect. The stability of the closed-loop system is analyzed based on Lyapunov theory. Simulation results demonstrate the validity of the developed controller in providing stable tracking of the guidance command by numerical simulation on the 6-degree-of-freedom model of reusable launch vehicle