ROBUST ATTITUDE CONTROL OF LAUNCH

VEHICLE USING H∞ CONTROLLER

Keziah Elizabeth George Angel Mary Alka Mariyam Varghese
Dept. Of EEE Dept. Of EEE Dept. Of EEE
Muthoot Institute of Technology Muthoot Institute of Technology Muthoot Institute of Technology
and Science and Science and Science
Ernakulam,India Ernakulam,India Ernakulam,India
keziahelza513@gmail.com angelmaryt9@gmail.com alkamv99@gmail.com

Meera Sivadas Ambili Mohan Akhil Santhosh

Dept. Of EEE Dept. Of EEE Dept. Of EEE
Muthoot Institute of Technology Muthoot Institute of Technology Muthoot Institute of Technology
and Science and Science and Science
Ernakulam,India Ernakulam,India Ernakulam,India
meerasivadas@mgits.ac.in ambilimohan@mgits.ac.in akhilsanthosh606@gmail.com

Abstract—A launch vehicle(LV) or carrier rocket is a rocket-
driven vehicle used to move a payload from the surface of the
Earth to space. A typical LV consists of lateral and longitudinal
dynamics. This paper addresses the control of a LV’s longitudinal
dynamics. The control strategy focuses predominantly on the
control of pitch angle. Only the rigid body dynamics of a
launch vehicle system is considered. Here, an H Infinity(H∞)
control method is developed for governing the pitch angle.
MATLAB software is used for the simulation of the controller.
The desired specifications are chosen for the nominal plant and
the controller is designed by appropriate weight selection process.
Later, robustness and disturbance checks were analyzed. The
result of the simulation shows that the designed controller is
robust and is able to handle perturbations.
Index Terms—Launch Vehicle(LV), pitch angle, rigid body
dynamics, H infinity, robust.
I. I NTRODUCTION
The launch vehicles(LV) are rocket propelled system used
to carry space objects into space. During its motion, it expe-
riences aerodynamic moments and forces. LV system is said
to be aerodynamically stable if it can maintain it’s orientation
in external disturbances. In common it is said that LV sys-
tems are aerodynamically unstable with continuously varying
parameters[1],[2]. This paper focuses on attitude control of
LV. The first step of designing the LV system is to obtain the
mathematical modelling. The LV system has a high degree of
uncertainty[3]. The LV dynamics is divided into, rigid body
and flexible body dynamics. Here, in this study only the rigid
body dynamics is considered[4].
In rigid body dynamics it is assumed that the vehicle
parameters do not change over a short period of time. Other
assumptions taken for the study are, small angle approximation
and neglected non-linearities. All these assumptions make the
system a Linear Time Invarient(LTI)[5]. The dynamics of rigid
body motion is governed by the combined action of different
external forces, moment and inertia of the body. The control
of longitudinal dynamics mainly consist of pitch angle control
and lateral dynamics of launch vehicle is controlled by yaw
rate [6].The pitch attitude control refers to controlling the
orientation of the object with respect to a reference frame and
stabilizing the system.
H∞ control is used, in order to achieve robust performance
and stabilization. For finding controller solution control state-
ment is expressed as a mathematical optimization problem.
H∞ loop shaping is commonly used for controller synthe-
sis, since the performance requirements can be included as
performance weights, in the design stage[7],[8].The weight
selection can be done either by trial and error method or by
using the automatic weight selection algorithm[9]. General
approach of weight selection is trial and error method but
an automatic weight selection approach for active magnetic
bearing is described in [10].
This paper focuses on longitudinal dynamics i,e. pitch angle
control of Launch Vehicle. For getting pitch angle control, the
linear analysis of rigid body dynamics is done. An automatic
weight selection algorithm is proposed for LV system. Appro-
priate weight functions are selected using automatic weight
selection algorithm and the H∞ loop shaping is applied on
the LV system. These weight functions are used to form
the controller transfer function. Finally the robustness of the
system and response under disturbances were validated.
This paper is organized as follow: Section II deals with
launch vehicle modelling. The design of H∞ controller is pre-
sented in section III. Section IV deals with automatic weight
selection algorithm. The simulation result and discussion done
are presented in Section V . Section VI gives the concluding

978-1-6654-3919-0/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE

remarks followed by the references.
θ̈ = µα α + µc δ (3)
II. L AUNCH V EHICLE M ODELLING
This section focuses on the study of rigid body dynamics of Where µα = LαIlα and µc = TcIlc
LV. In this study the system is assumed to be completely rigid Here lα is aerodynamic moment arm length and lc is control
i.e. the system does not deform under the action of any forces. moment arm length. µα is the aerodynamic moment coeffi-
Some assumptions taken in this study are (i) time varying mass cient, µc is the control moment coefficient and I is the moment
and inertia properties are frozen over a short period of time of inertia.
(ii) all forces act at centre of gravity of the vehicle (iii) pitch From the figure the angle of attack is
rate is adapted such that it cancels the gravitational force on
vehicle[4]. To obtain the mathematical modelling the linear ż
α=θ+ + αw (4)
analysis is done. The input to the system is thrust angle (δ) V
and the output obtained is attitude angle (θ).
Where αw is the angle of attack caused by wind and Vż is
the angle of attack caused by lateral drift. Neglecting the
component due to wind,
ż
α=θ+ (5)
V

The velocity with which it moves, will be very high when the
aerodynamic pressure is significant i.e V >> ż. Hence Vż can
be neglected. Therefore

α=θ (6)

Taking Laplace Transform on equation 3 and equation 6 the

following two equations are obtained

s2 θ(s) = µα α(s) + µc δ(s) (7)

α(s) = θ(s) (8)

Fig. 1. Geometry of a launch vehicle [2]

Substituting equation 8 in equation 7 and rearranging the
The variables in figure 1 are explained as below: Xi and Zi equation, equation 9 can be obtained
are the inertial coordinate axes and Xb and Zb are the body
coordinate system. The pitch angle (θ) is the angle formed (s2 − µα )θ(s) = µc δ(s) (9)
between X axis of inertial coordinate system and X axis of
body coordinate system[2]. α is the angle formed between
Thus transfer function obtained between θ and δ are:
the x-axis of the body coordinate system and effective wind
velocity. θ(s) µc
= 2 (10)
From Newtons second law of motion δ(s) s − µα
F =m∗a (1)
The values for Aerodynamic moment coefficient and control
Considering the motion of vehicle, the vehicle is moving in moment coefficients lie between certain ranges. The values are
lateral plane and the lateral acceleration (z̈) of the vehicle thus given in the table below
obtained is given in equation (2):
TT − D Lα Tc TABLE I
z̈ = θ− α+ δ (2) R ANGE OF V EHICLE C OEFFICIENTS
m m m
Moment Coefficients Range
Where TT is total thrust, D is drag force, m is mass of the
Aerodynamic moment coefficient (µα ) 2-5
body, Lα is aerodynamic force per unit angle of attack, α is Control moment coefficient (µc ) 4-7
angle of attack and Tc is control thrust.
Angular acceleration (θ̈) of the body is given by:
 III. D ESIGN O F H∞ C ONTROLLER To achieve this, three weight functions (Ws , Wks and Wt )
All systems have certain unquantifiable uncertainties, are considered for loop shaping, where Ws , the performance
which must be modelled correctly. To cope up with these weighting function is used to limit the magnitude of the sensi-
uncertainties and for getting robust control, an H∞ controller tivity function S and Wt , the robustness weighting function is
is proposed. H∞ controller synthesis is based on three used to limit the magnitude of the complementary sensitivity
criterion[7]. function T. Wks (i,e W2 ) is the weighting functions used to
limit the control effort.
Stability Criterion: It states that the system is stable, if the The input to the plant is w and the output is z. The output
roots of characteristic equation lies on the left half of s plane. consists of three terms, z1 , z2 and z3 . Consider P as the transfer
1 + G(s)K(s) = 0 function of the plant. From the above figure,
Performance Criterion: It specifies that for all frequencies  
WS S
where disturbance action and set point variations are large,
P = WKS KS  (13)
sensitivity S(s) is small.
Wt T
S(s)=1/(1+G(s)K(s))
Robustness Criterion: It states performance and stability In mixed sensitivity problem, the goal is to search out a
should be guaranteed for the nominal model, as well as for controller K(s) that stabilises the closed loop system, by
a collection of surrounding plant models arising from the satisfying the subsequent expression
inevitability of modelling errors.  
The first step in designing an H∞ controller is to arrive at a WS S
mathematical model describing the system for which controller min||P || = min WKS KS  = γ (14)
is to be implemented. A limitation for mathematical modelling Wt T
is that, closed loop system should be internally stable[11]. To where, P is the transfer function of disturbance (w) to output
minimize the effect of disturbance on output, the H∞ norm (z) i.e
of the system needs to be minimized. The H∞ norm of a
transfer function, F, is its highest value throughout spectrum, |Tzw | = γ (15)
and is represented in equation(11).
The cost function γ is minimized, by solving the algebraic
||F (jω)||∞ = sup σ(F (jω)) (11) Riccati equations and thereby, a stabilizing controller K(s) is
where, σ is the highest singular value of a transfer function. achieved.

IV. AUTOMATIC W EIGHT S ELECTION A LGORITHM

The end purpose of robust control is to minimise the
influence of disturbances on the system’s output. This can be
achieved by reducing the values of sensitivity function S and
the complementary function T. For that it is sufficient to lower
the magnitudes of S and T. This can be done by making,

1 1
|S(jω)| < and |T (jω)| < (16)
WS (jω) Wt (jω)
The paper proposes an automatic weight selection algorithm
for an LV system. The automatic weight selection algorithm
takes the system’s transfer function as the input. By setting
Fig. 2. Plant model for the synthesis of H∞ controller[7] the values of ‘A’ and ‘M’ to 0.1 and 1 correspondingly in
the equation(17)[10], the initial value of the sensitivity weight
Figure 2 represents plant model for the synthesis of H∞ function is achieved and the initial form of complementary
controller.Here, we consider two transfer functions, from w to weight function is designed by setting the value of ‘L’ to 0.01
w-y and w to y. in equation(18).
s/M + wb
1 GK WS = (17)
S= and T = (12) s + wb A
1 + GK 1 + GK
Ls + 1
The sensitivity function (S) is the ratio of a system’s output Wt = (18)
to its disturbance, whereas the complementary sensitivity 2(0.05Ls + 1)
function (T) is the ratio of the system’s output to its input. Where, ωb , M, A, L are the cut off frequency, gain for high
The robust controller is intended to minimize the limit of frequency disturbances, gain for low frequency control signal
H∞ norm of the plant such that it is usually less than 1. and a constant respectively.
 Step 6: Return K

TABLE II
G AMMA VALUES OBTAINED USING BISECTION ALGORITHM

gamma X>=0 Y>=0 rho(XY)< 1 p/f

9.00e-01 7.4e-06 0.0e+00 8.502e-02 p
6.71e-01 7.7e-06 0.0e+00 3.418e-01 p
5.79e-01 8.0e-06 -4.9e-17 1.613e+00 f
6.23e-01 7.8e-06 0.0e+00 6.230e-01 p
6.01e-01 7.9e-06 0.0e+00 9.357e-01 p
5.90e-01 8.0e-06 -1.9e-15 1.200e+00 f
5.95e-01 8.0e-06 -2.9e-16 1.055e+00 f

From table 2, the best performance gamma is 0.601

V. SIMULATION RESULT AND DISCUSSION

After the implementation of the H∞ controller, the LV
system follows the desired characteristics (i.e, overshoot<
25% and rise time< 1.5s). The weights selected and the
controller transfer function are given in equations below.
0.33333(s + 12)
Ws = (19)
s + 0.2
Wks = 0.001 (20)

10(s + 50)
Wt = (21)
s + 1000

3.502e05s3 + 3.512e08s2 + 1.042e09s + 7.042e08

K=
s4 + 1789s3 + 8.576e05s2 + 6.828e07s + 1.362e07
(22)
Figure 4, 5 and 6 represents the singular value plot, step
response and bode plot of the plant with controller respec-
tively. In figure 4, the red line depicts the maximum singular
value of the system, which is the cost function(γ). From the
figure it is clear that all singular values lie below the gamma
value. The plant is simulated for a duration of 10 ms with step
amplitude 1 and the performances are verified and the step
response smoothly settles to 1 with zero steady state error.
From the bode plot it is seen that the gain margin and phase
margin are 31.7316dB and 139.2149deg respectively, which
are both positive. Hence it can be said that the system with
the controller goes to a stable region.

Fig. 3. Flow chart of Automatic weight selection algorithm

To optimize the cost function(γ) bisection algorithm is

used.The steps of the algorithm are
Step 1: Initialize γ − = 0 and γ + = 0.
Step 2:Let gam = (γ − +γ + )/2
step 3:Check whether a controller exists such that γ< gam.
Step 4:If yes, set γ + as gam and set K as the controller just
designed. Otherwise set γ − as gam.
Step 5: Repeat step 3 to 4, until γ − +γ + < , where  is a Fig. 4. Singular Value Plot of the system
small value.
 Fig. 5. Step Response
Fig. 6. Bode Plot of the system
A. Robustness check with extreme limits
The four extreme limits of µc and µα are considered for
performing robustness check which is shown in figure 7. It
is verified that the controller gives satisfactory results in all
conditions.
Fig. 7. System response with extreme limits
B. System responses under disturbances
An LV experiences various types of disturbance during its
atmospheric flight. So disturbance check is done to verify the
stability of controller. Figure 8 represents the block diagram
of disturbance check with a pulse as disturbance signal.
Figure 9 and figure 10 represents the output of the system
after giving step and pulse disturbance respectively. The step
and pulse disturbance with amplitude 0.3 is given continuously
after the initial step response settles to 1. But with the help
Fig. 8. Block diagram for pulse disturbance check
of controller the system quickly settles back to 1. Hence it
is verified that the system is capable of handling disturbances
and have good performance even with disturbance acting on
it.
Fig. 9. System response with step as disturbance signal
Fig. 10. System response with pulse as disturbance signal
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper studied about the rigid body dynamics of LV
system. From the transfer function obtained, it is evident
that the system is unstable. To stabilize the system, an H∞
controller is implemented. Proper weight selection was done
by implementing an automatic weight selection algorithm.
The disturbance check and robustness check were conducted
and from the stimulation result it is seen that at the time
of disturbance, overshoot and undershoot occurs, still the
controller is able to bring back the system to a stable condition.
Hence it is concluded that the controller designed is robust and
can handle disturbance. Therefore the H∞ control method is
one of the best methods for designing a robust controller.
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