This master thesis describes the design and
development of position and attitude determination
and control of a rocket. The project
is motivated by the general need of cheaper
launch opportunities for an ever growing micro
satellite market. The goal is to achieve a
cheap and efficient solution in the form of the
self-foraging rocket concept, inspired by the
work of Yemets et al. at Dniepropetrovsk National
University.
The overall design of the rocket is done from
scratch starting with the initial mechanical
concept of the rocket, followed by the sensors
and actuators it will employ, and consecutively
the mechanical dimensioning of each
thruster to be utilized. Additionally a general
ascent trajectory is calculated to launch the
rocket into orbit, to be tested in a complete
simulation environment designed in Simulink.
Furthermore an extended Kalman filter is designed
to estimate the states of the rocket,
while both waypoint and sliding mode is designed
for the control of the rocket.
The EKF was shown to be able to sufficiently
estimate the states of the system in three distinct
nominal tests.
A waypoint tracking controller, for following
an optimal ascent trajectory, and a sliding
mode controller is implemented as position
control systems for launching the rocket into
orbit. Despite for showing good performance
for controlling the rocket, none of the controllers
are able to inject the rocket into orbit
with satisfactory results