Journal of Technology in Aerospace Engineering

Journal of Technology in Aerospace Engineering

Processor-in-the-Loop Implementation of a Second-Order Sliding Mode Predictive Guidance Law for Maneuvering Targets

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
1 Faculty of Electrical &Computer Engineering , Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2 Electrical and computer complex - Malek Ashtar University of Technology
Abstract
In this paper,a second-order sliding mode predictive guidance law is proposed for tracking maneuvering targets.The proposed guidance law utilizes the generalized model predictive control theory and the second-order sliding mode, which is developed to improve the tracking performance against targets with unknown maneuvers. In this method, by considering the target maneuvers as uncertain, there is no need to measure or estimate these maneuvers precisely which simplifies the guidance law. To determine the acceleration command of the interceptor, the slip surface is defined based on the line-of-sight rate. In addition, the second-order sliding surface is used to reduce the effects of the chattering phenomenon. The proposed method takes advantage of the advantages of predictive control, including predicting the future behavior of the system and simultaneously optimizing the performance. The effectiveness of the proposed guidance law has been investigated by performing numerical simulations and applying it to a ground-to-air interceptor for tracking targets without maneuvering and with step, sinusoidal and random maneuvers. The results of the developed guidance law have been compared with the performance of the first-order sliding mode predictive guidance law and it has been shown that the proposed method has a better performance in dealing with maneuvering targets.In order to investigate the feasibility of implementing this guidance law,processor-in-the-loop implementation has been done and the results obtained in real-time conditions have been presented. The results of this test confirm that the proposed guidance law, in addition to its better performance in numerical simulations, also has the capability of practical implementation.
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  • Receive Date 25 February 2025
  • Revise Date 19 August 2025
  • Accept Date 25 August 2025
  • First Publish Date 27 August 2025