Receding horizon-based dual control strategy for pinpoint planetary landing

Abstract

A receding horizon-based dual control strategy for a planetary landing mission is developed. This strategy introduces the receding horizon framework to solve the nonlinear dynamic path planning problem with the state constraint, which makes up for the defects of the typical polynomial guidance law when it is used in landing on a planet with irregular gravity. Furthermore, the trade-off between efficient control and reliable estimation is considered. The cost incurred by the system uncertainty is incorporated into the performance index. Furthermore a linear feedback control law is provided with the quadratic performance index considering the dual features, which takes advantage of the nonlinear coupling between observability and trajectory to overcome the lack of observability and achieve better estimation performance. By stochastically optimizing the landing trajectory obtained from the receding horizon based convex programming method, the overall performance of the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system for landing on planets is improved. © 2012 The Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences.