Lyapunov approach to guidance laws design

Abstract Synthesis of control systems based on the Lyapunov method is formulated. As an application of the approach offered, the design of guidance laws is considered. This new class of the guidance laws is developed. The new laws will augment the well-known and used law in practice proportional navigation (PN) law which is a part of this class; additional components are selected based on the negative definiteness of the derivative of the Lyapunov function. The guidance law components are determined based on the partial stability of the guidance system dynamics under consideration, and only with respect to the LOS (line of sight) derivative. The comparative analysis of the modified PN algorithms with the traditional PN law showed that the new guidance laws guarantee shorter homing time requirements and larger capture area.