Robust Wind Disturbance Observer Design for a Flexible Launch Vehicle
Among several challenges, wind resilience is one of the most desired features when designing a launch vehicle, as it allows higher structural flexibility and, thus, lighter vehicles. This paper addresses the problem of load relief and on-board wind anticipation in the context of a launch system through the design of a Wind Disturbance Observer (WDO) based on ∞ robust synthesis for a flexible vehicle. First, a state-of-practice robust controller is designed to stabilize the flexible closed loop. Afterwards, the WDO design is described and the closed loop analyzed in terms of stability and robustness. Finally, the controller together with the WDO are tested in a high-fidelity nonlinear simulator, where a reduction in the load experienced by the vehicle is apparent, as desired.
Authors
- Ana Botelho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1843-9455)
- J.F. Vasconcelos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0557-3425)
- Adolfo D. Silva
- Patrícia Guerreiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0948-043X)
- Alejandro Montero Miñan
- Gonçalo Videira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9037-3449)
- Pedro Antonio de la Rosa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0912-7396)
- Pedro Simplício (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7808-4502)
- Massimo Casasco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1004-1856)
- João P. Belfo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2155-0250)
- Bruno Ribeiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9812-3628)
- I. Zagalo
Institutions
- Saint Louis University (ES)
- Department of Space (IN)
- SpaceX (United States) (US)
- Deimos Engenharia (Portugal) (PT)
- European Space Research and Technology Centre (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- IFAC-PapersOnLine
- Published
- 2025-01-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2025.10.073
- Primary Topic
- Control and Stability of Dynamical Systems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00