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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Nonlinear Robust Missile Autopilot Design Using Successive Galerkin Approximation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard Aug 1999

Nonlinear Robust Missile Autopilot Design Using Successive Galerkin Approximation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard

Faculty Publications

The application of a new nonlinear robust control strategy to the design of missile autopilots is presented. The control approach described and demonstrated here is based upon the numerical solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation by Successive Galerkin Approximation. Using this approach, feedback controllers are computed by an iterative application of a numerical Galerkin-type PDE solver. Application of this approach to the design of a pitch-axis autopilot for a missile having uncertain pitch moment and lift force is described.


Successive Galerkin Approximation Of The Isaacs Equation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, John T. Wen Jul 1999

Successive Galerkin Approximation Of The Isaacs Equation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, John T. Wen

Faculty Publications

The successive Galerkin approximation (SGA) algorithm has recently been developed for approximating solutions to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation. The algorithm produces feedback control laws that are stabilizing on a well-defined region of state space. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the application of the SGA algorithm to two simple examples. The examples serve several purposes: first they illustrate how the algorithm is applied in a setting that is simple enough to write out in detail, second they demonstrate the convergence of the algorithm in a setting where the actual solution can be derived analytically.


Successive Galerkin Approximation Of A Nonlinear Optimal Attitude Control, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Johnathan Lawton Jun 1999

Successive Galerkin Approximation Of A Nonlinear Optimal Attitude Control, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Johnathan Lawton

Faculty Publications

This paper presents the application of the successive Galerkin approximation (SGA) to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation to obtain solutions of the optimal attitude control problem. Galerkin's method approximates the value function by a truncated Galerkin series expansion. To do so, a truncated Galerkin basis set is formed. A sufficient number of functions must be included in this Galerkin basis set in order to guarantee that the solution will be a stabilizing control. By increasing the size of the Galerkin basis the quality of the approximation is improved at the cost of rapid growth in the computation load of the SGA. A …


Synthesis And Experimental Testing Of A Nonlinear Optimal Tracking Controller, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Christopher A. Bailey Jun 1999

Synthesis And Experimental Testing Of A Nonlinear Optimal Tracking Controller, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Christopher A. Bailey

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a novel approach for developing tracking controllers for nonlinear systems. The approach involves the numerical solution, by Galerkin approximation, of the time-varying Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation and results in a nonlinear controller approximating the optimal tracking control law for a specified desired trajectory and cost function. Experimental results are presented for a nonlinear pendulum system.


Observations Of Lattice Curvature Near The Interface Of A Deformed Aluminium Bicrystal, Brent L. Adams, W. E. King, S. Sun Mar 1999

Observations Of Lattice Curvature Near The Interface Of A Deformed Aluminium Bicrystal, Brent L. Adams, W. E. King, S. Sun

Faculty Publications

This work was partially supported by MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-9632556), and under the auspices of the US Department of Energy and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract W-7405- Eng-48. S. Sun gratefully acknowledges the comments of Professor E. T. Onat, Professor B. T. Chu and Professor W. Tong of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Yale University, and their valuable guidance in the process of completing this project as a doctoral dissertation. The assistance of B. El-Dasher of Carnegie-Mellon University is also gratefully acknowledged. Reported here is a study of the pattern of lattice curvature near the …


Spin-Up In A Tank Induced By A Rotating Bluff Body, R. Daniel Maynes, J. Klewicki, P. Mcmurty Jan 1999

Spin-Up In A Tank Induced By A Rotating Bluff Body, R. Daniel Maynes, J. Klewicki, P. Mcmurty

Faculty Publications

Spin-up of a turbulent flow in a cylindrical tank caused by a rotating bluff body has been investigated using flow visualization, fluid velocity measurements, and hydrodynamic torque measurements. During the spin-up process three distinct temporal regimes exist. These regimes are: (i) a build-up regime where the torque and the tangential velocity fluctuations in the close proximity of the body remain constant; (ii) a decay regime where these quantities decay with power-law relations; and (iii) a mean flow steady state where these values remain relatively constant. Experiments were conducted in two tanks differing in volume by a factor of 80 and …