Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2020
In this paper, a robust three-dimensional guidance law against manoeuvering targets is designed using the approach of discrete-time partial stabilisation. In the proposed method, the equations of the guidance problem are divided into two subsystems where the asymptotic stability is desired only for the first one. The control input of the second subsystem is designed such that the collision to be ensured in a short time. Despite recent advances in technology and implementation of digital controllers, the design of guidance laws with the approach of discrete-time partial stabilisation has not been done, till now. One of the advantages of this paper is to design a discrete-time guidance law even with the difficulties of the discrete-time Lyapunov theorem. Moreover, the Lyapunov function is chosen based on the physics of the guidance problem (making the rate of line of sight (LOS) rotation close to zero), and it is shown that it is not possible to asymptotically stabilise the system in the case of manoeuvering targets. Nevertheless, to guarantee the collision with the target, it is enough to limit the rotation rate of LOS to a small value. Finally, simulation results are given to show the appropriate performance of the proposed guidance law.