Real-time estimation of projectile roll angle using magnetometers: in-lab experimental validation

French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL) P.O. Box 70034, Saint-Louis 68301, France

Abstract

The knowledge of the roll angle of a projectile is decisive to apply guidance and control law. For example, the goal of ISL's project GSP (Guided Supersonic Projectile) is to change the flight path of an airdefence projectile in order to correct the aim error due to the target manoeuvres. The originality of the concept is based on pyrotechnical actuators and onboard sensors which control the angular motion of the projectile. First of all, the control of the actuators requires the precise control of the roll angle of the projectile. To estimate the roll angle of the projectile, two magnetometers are embedded in the projectile to measure the projection of the Earth magnetic field along radial axes of the projectiles. Then, an extended Kalman filter (EKF) is used to compute the roll angle estimation. As the rolling frequency of the GSP is about 22 Hz, it was easy to test the navigation algorithm in laboratory. In a previous paper [1], the In-Lab demonstration of this concept showed that the roll angle estimation was possible with an accuracy of about 1◦ . In this paper, the demonstration is extended to high-speed roll rate, up to 1000 Hz. Thus, two magnetometers, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) and a LED (Light Eminent Diode), are rotated using a pneumatic motor; the DSP runs an EKF and a guidance algorithm to compute the trigger times of the LED. By using a high-speed camera, the accuracy of the method can be observed and improved.