Modelling of gyro in an IR seeker for real-time simulation

Sammanfattning: The target tracking system of an IR (InfraRed) guided missile is constantly subjected to disturbances due to the linear and angular motion of the missile. To diminish these LOS (Line Of Sight) disturbances the seeker of the missile can be built from a free gyroscope mounted in a very low friction suspension. The ability of the spinning gyroscope to maintain its direction relative to an inertial frame is used to stabilize the seeker LOS while tracking a target. The tracking velocity of the seeker, i.e. its angular velocity, is controlled by a feedback control unit where the signal from the IR detector is used as input. The electrical driven actuator consists of a set of coils and a magnet on the gyroscope. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a real-time model of the seeker gyroscope in an existing IR MANPAD (MAN Portable Air Defense) missile. The aim is a model that is able to simulate the real system with consideration to the tracking velocity. The model should also be integrated into a hybrid simulator environment. With relatively good knowledge of the system and its subsystems an initial physical modelling approach was used where elementary equations and accepted relations were assembled to describe the mechanism of the subsystems. This formed the framework of the model and gave a good foundation for further modelling. By using experimentation and more detailed system knowledge the initial approach could be developed and modified. Necessary approximations were made and unknown parameters were determined through system identification methods. The model was implemented in MATLAB Simulink. To make it suitable for real-time operation Real-Time Workshop was used. The model design was evaluated in simulations where the tracking performance could be tested for different positions of the gyroscope. The results where satisfying and showed that the model was able to reproduce the output of the system well considering the speed of the model and the approximations made. One important reason that good results can be achieved with a relatively simple model is that the seeker is limited to small rotations. The model can be tuned to operate in a smaller range and the complexity can be kept low. A weakness of the model is that the output error increases for wide angles.