Multi-Agent Intelligent Control for the Skylon Launch Vehicle

Members: Peter Mendham, Yoshikazu Hirayama

Skylon is a Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) fully reuseable launch vehicle currently being developed by Reaction Engines Limited in collaboration with two Italian aerospace companies Avio SpA and ELV SpA. The University of York has been heavily involved with dynamic modelling of both the vehicle aerodynamics and the engines (see the separate SABRE engine project) for the past five years. Skylon is intended to be fully autonomous and therefore requires highly intelligent, robust and reliable control systems. This project is using Multi-Agent System (MAS) as a novel paradigm for intelligent control. The use of multiple intelligent agents allows robust control in a reliable framework, utilising appropriate redundancy without squandering avaiable computing resources.