Analyzing errors in controlled turret system

Abstract

This paper analyzes the aiming errors in a stationary controlled turret system given target location as input. Turret control system research is limited to demonstrating the viability of a proposed control strategy. However, there is no standard procedure for evaluating turret system accuracy when there is uncertainty in the turret model and the aimpoint measurement. Therefore, we propose a methodology for analyzing the accuracy of a stationary turret system against static targets. In our approach, we derive a turret model and design a proportional–integral–derivative controller and a model predictive controller to rotate the turret to the centroid of the target in simulations. We then perform numerical experiments that analyze the impact of uncertainty in the turret model parameters and the aimpoint measurement on the aiming errors. Our results indicate that the turret rotational movement is more sensitive to uncertainty in the moment of inertia than the damping coefficient, which could lead to reduced accuracy. The results also support the assumption of higher aiming errors over larger turret rotations and, assuming no time constraints, accuracy improves the longer the controller stabilizes the turret, though this may not always be practical. The results quantify the impact of uncertainty on turret system accuracy.