Special Issue on

Advances in Guidance and Control of Aerospace Vehicles using Sliding Mode Control and
Observation Techniques
in Journal of The Franklin Institute (JFI)
Aeronautical and space vehicle guidance and control attracted a particular interest in recent years due to rapid
development of potential application areas. Guided and controlled flight of aeronautical and space vehicles that
include aircraft, helicopter, and satellite (individual, unmanned and formation), launch vehicles (crewed and cargo),
and missiles involves attitude maneuvering through a wide range of flight conditions, wind disturbances, and model
uncertainties including aerodynamic surfaces and engine failures. In spite of the extensive and successful
development of robust H2/H∞ control, adaptive control and backstepping technique, traditional and higher order
sliding mode control (SMC and HOSM) and observation techniques stay, probably, the main choice in handling
bounded uncertainties/disturbances and unmodeled dynamics in contemporary flight guidance and control systems.
Newly developed SMC and HOSM control and observation algorithms bring in advanced mathematical tools for
theoretical design and practical implementation of robust guidance and control systems for aerospace vehicles.
The objective of this special issue is to summarize recent advances in aerospace vehicle guidance, control using
sliding mode control and observation algorithms. The solicited papers should provide new ideas and approaches,
clearly indicating the advances made in problem statements, methodologies, or applications with respect to the
existing results. The papers presenting applications to newly emerging fields are especially welcome. Reviews of the
state of art that summarize the main theoretical results and implementation issues of SMC and HOSM control and
observation techniques in aerospace vehicle guidance and control will be welcome to submit.
Topics to be covered in this special issue include, but not limited to, the sliding mode guidance and control of
• Aerospace vehicle with engine, actuator and aerodynamic surface failure. Control reconfiguration.
• Missile interceptor and seeker. High accuracy, robust optimal fuel consumption control.
• Crewed and cargo launch vehicle. Flight and/or flexible mode control
• Unmanned aerospace vehicle formation, including helicopter and aircraft: robust guidance and control.
• Helicopter. Under-actuated robust control.
• Satellite formation. Robust optimal fuel consumption control.
Author’s Schedule
Submission of Manuscript February 15, 2011
Notification of Acceptance November 15, 2011
Final Manuscript due December 15, 2011
Tentative Publication Date October 2012
All submissions are subject to review, and acceptance will be limited to papers needing only moderate revisions.
Manuscripts should be submitted electronically online at http://ees.elsevier.com/fi
The corresponding author will have to create a user profile if one has not been established before at Elsevier. Please,
select the article type "Sliding Mode Aerospace" when submit the paper and, simultaneously, send an electronic copy
of the complete manuscript via email (PDF format preferred) to one of the Guest Editors listed below.
Dr. Yuri B. Shtessel, Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
301 Sparkman Drive, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama 35899
tel: (256)824-6164, fax: (256)824-6803, email: shtessel@ece.uah.edu
Dr. Christian H. Tournes, Chief Scientist
Davidson Technologies, Inc, 530 Discovery Drive, Huntsville AL, 35806
tel: (256) 327-3114, fax: (256) 922 0721, email: ChristianTournes@davidson-tech.com
Dr. Leonid Fridman, Professor
National Autonomous University of Mexico
DEP-FI, UNAM, A. P. 70-256, C.P.04510, Mexico, D.F., Mexico
tel: 52 55 56223016, fax: 52 55 56161719, email: lfridman@servidor.unam.mx