Optimum On-board Abort Guidance based on Successive Convexification for Atmospheric Re-Entry Vehicles

Space safety and hazards reduction techniques are each day becoming more important in the design and operation of space transportation vehicles. One way to mitigate risks is to use advanced guidance strategies to centralise mission planning and guidance-navigation and control. Successive convexification is a technique suitable for this purpose...

Optimal trajectory tracking control design: Emulating fighter aircraft flight test tracks with nonlinear model predictive control

Aircraft lifespan can be extended by upgrading and modernizing the electrical subsystems and instruments. However, this often introduces increased power demands and heat generation that the aircraft was not originally designed for and can result in a reduced flight performance and increased wear. Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and the...

Laser-Based Control of Rotary-Wing UAVs

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) present a high technological development rate nowadays. These vehicles can be used to perform dangerous and costly inspection procedures in structures with difficult access instead of human operators, but they still need a close monitoring. This thesis addresses the problem of using exclusively sensors on board...