Local controllability and stabilization of spacecraft attitude by two single-gimbal control moment gyros

The attitude control problem of a spacecraft underactuated by two single-gimbal control moment gyros （SGCMGs） is investigated. Small-time local controllability （STLC） of the attitude dynamics of the spacecraft-SGCMGs system is analyzed via nonlinear controllability theory. The conditions that guarantee STLC of the spacecraft attitude by two non-coaxial SGCMGs are obtained with the momentum of the SGCMGs as inputs, implying that the spacecraft attitude is STLC when the total angular momentum of the whole system is zero. Moreover, our results indi- cate that under the zero-momentum restriction, full attitude stabilization is possible for a spacecraft using two non-coaxial SGCMGs. For the case of two coaxial SGCMGs, the STLC property of the spacecraft cannot be determined. In this case, an improvement to the previous full attitude stabilizing control law, which requires zero-momentum presumption, is proposed to account for the singu- larity of SGCMGs and enhance the steady state performance. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the new control law.     

Attitude synchronization for multiple spacecraft with input constraints

The attitude synchronization problem for multiple spacecraft with input constraints is investigated in this paper. Two distributed control laws are presented and analyzed. First, by intro- ducing bounded function, a distributed asymptotically stable control law is proposed. Such a con- trol scheme can guarantee attitude synchronization and the control inputs of each spacecraft can be a priori bounded regardless of the number of its neighbors. Then, based on graph theory, homoge- neous method, and Lyapunov stability theory, a distributed finite-time control law is designed. Rig- orous proof shows that attitude synchronization of multiple spacecraft can be achieved in finite time, and the control scheme satisfies input saturation requirement. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the oroDosed schemes.     

Coordinated attitude control for flexible spacecraft formation with actuator configuration misalignment

This paper investigates the coordinated attitude control problem for flexible spacecraft formation with the consideration of actuator configuration misalignment. First, an integral-type sliding mode adaptive control law is designed to compensate the effects of flexible mode, environmental disturbance and actuator installation deviation. The basic idea of the Integral-type Sliding Mode Control (ISMC) is to design a proper sliding manifold so that the sliding mode starts from the initial time instant, and thus the robustness of the system can be guaranteed from the beginning of the process and the reaching phase is eliminated. Then, considering the nominal system of spacecraft formation based on directed topology, an attitude cooperative control strategy is developed for the nominal system with or without communication delay. The proposed control law can guarantee that for each spacecraft in the spacecraft formation, the desired attitude objective can be achieved and the attitude synchronization can be maintained with other spacecraft in the formation. Finally, simulation results are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm.     

Delay Depending Decentralized Adaptive Attitude Synchronization Tracking Control of Spacecraft Formation

This paper deals with the problem of cooperative attitude tracking with time-varying communication delays as well as the delays between inter-synchronization control parts and self-tracking control parts in the spacecraft formation flying. First, we present the attitude synchronization tracking control algorithms and analyze the sufficient delay-dependent stability condition with the choice of a Lyapunov function when the angular velocity can be measured. More specifically, a class of linear filters is developed to derive an output feedback control law without having direct information of the angular velocity, which is significant for practical applications with low-cost configurations of spacecraft. Using a well-chosen Lyapunov-Krasovskii function, it is proven that the presented control law can make the spacecraft formation attitude tracking system synchronous and achieve exponential stability, in the face of model uncertainties, as well as non-uniform time-varying delays in communication links and different control parts. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control schemes.     

航天器有限时间输出反馈姿态控制

研究在角速度不可测时航天器的有限时间姿态控制问题。基于有限时间控制技术,提出了由修正Rodrigues参数进行姿态描述的航天器输出反馈姿态控制算法。首先设计了单个航天器的输出反馈姿态控制器,在没有角速度反馈时也能够保证航天器姿态在有限时间内调节到期望姿态。之后,设计了无需绝对角速度和相对角速度信息的多航天器分布式输出反馈姿态控制器。使用Lyapunov理论和图论,对闭环系统全局有限时间稳定性进行了严格的证明。最后对提出的控制算法进行了数值仿真,其结果验证了所设计的航天器输出反馈控制算法的可行性和有效性。     

Stabilization of the attitude of a rigid spacecraft with external disturbances using finite-time control techniques

In this paper, we consider the attitude stabilization problem for a rigid spacecraft with external disturbances. To obtain a better disturbance rejection property, we employ finite-time control techniques. In the absence of disturbances, by employing continuous finite-time control method, a continuous finite-time controller is designed such that the attitude of the rigid spacecraft will converge to the origin in finite time. In the presence of disturbances, by employing terminal sliding mode method, a discontinuous finite-time control law is proposed such that the states will eventually converge to a small region of the origin, which can be rendered as small as desired. Numerical simulation results show the effectiveness of the method.     

刚体飞行器大角度机动的反馈非线性化控制

研究了刚体飞行器大角度的姿态控制问题,采用四元数描述刚体姿态,建立了刚体姿态运动的数学模型。基于反馈非线性化技术,通过构造李雅普诺夫函数推导出标量增益的线性控制律和矩阵增益的非线性控制律。两种控制律不需要知道系统参数,对模型误差具有鲁棒性。理论分析和仿真结果表明,所求控制律对闭环系统具有全局渐近稳定性。     

三轴轮控航天器姿态大角度机动控制器设计

研究了飞轮作为执行机构的航天器姿态大角度机动问题。建立了飞轮控制的姿态动力学模型;基于Lya-punov稳定性定理,设计了闭环控制器并给出了参数自适应律的解析表达式;分析了有界噪声作用下该模型的控制效果。仿真结果表明,所设计的控制器具有较强的鲁棒性和抗干扰能力。     

挠性航天器的退步直接自适应姿态跟踪控制

针对参数不确定的挠性航天器姿态跟踪控制问题,提出了一种退步直接自适应控制算法。首先验证了挠性航天器动力学子系统的近似严格正实性,并设计了具有理想控制性能的参考模型;然后对以姿态四元数描述的运动学子系统设计常系数输出反馈中间控制律,使航天器姿态四元数输出渐近跟踪参考模型输出;最后退一步,对具有参数不确定特性的动力学子系统,基于非线性直接自适应控制理论和Lyapunov稳定性理论,设计了退步直接自适应姿态跟踪控制器,并证明了闭环系统的稳定性。仿真结果表明,所提控制方法能有效抑制挠性附件的振动,对挠性航天器的控制是有效的。     

Attitude coordination for spacecraft formation with multiple communication delays

Communication delays are inherently present in information exchange between spacecraft and have an effect on the control performance of spacecraft formation. In this work, attitude coordination control of spacecraft formation is addressed, which is in the presence of multiple communication delays between spacecraft. Virtual system-based approach is utilized in case that a constant reference attitude is available to only a part of the spacecraft. The feedback from the virtual systems to the spacecraft formation is introduced to maintain the formation. Using backstepping control method, input torque of each spacecraft is designed such that the attitude of each spacecraft converges asymptotically to the states of its corresponding virtual system. Furthermore, the backstepping technique and the Lyapunov–Krasovskii method contribute to the control law design when the reference attitude is time-varying and can be obtained by each spacecraft. Finally, effectiveness of the proposed methodology is illustrated by the numerical simulations of a spacecraft formation.     

Robust attitude coordinated control for spacecraft formation with communication delays

In this paper,attitude coordinated tracking control algorithms for multiple spacecraft formation are investigated with consideration of parametric uncertainties,external disturbances,communication delays and actuator saturation.Initially,a sliding mode delay-dependent attitude coordinated controller is proposed under bounded external disturbances.However,neither inertia uncertainty nor actuator constraint has been taken into account.Then,a robust saturated delay dependent attitude coordinated control law is further derived,where uncertainties and external disturbances are handled by Chebyshev neural networks (CNN).In addition,command filter technique is introduced to facilitate the backstepping design procedure,through which actuator saturation problem is solved.Thus the spacecraft in the formation are able to track the reference attitude trajectory even in the presence of time-varying communication delays.Rigorous analysis is presented by using Lyapunov-Krasovskii approach to demonstrate the stability of the closed-loop system under both control algorithms.Finally,the numerical examples are carried out to illustrate the efficiency of the theoretical results.     

Spacecraft attitude maneuver control using two parallel mounted 3-DOF spherical actuators

A parallel configuration using two 3-degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) spherical electromag-netic momentum exchange actuators is investigated for large angle spacecraft attitude maneuvers. First, the full dynamic equations of motion for the spacecraft system are derived by the Newton-Euler method. To facilitate computation, virtual gimbal coordinate frames are established. Second, a nonlinear control law in terms of quaternions is developed via backstepping method. The pro-posed control law compensates the coupling torques arising from the spacecraft rotation, and is robust against the external disturbances. Then, the singularity problem is analyzed. To avoid sin-gularities, a modified weighed Moore-Pseudo inverse velocity steering law based on null motion is proposed. The weighted matrices are carefully designed to switch the actuators and redistribute the control torques. The null motion is used to reorient the rotor away from the tilt angle saturation state. Finally, numerical simulations of rest-to-rest maneuvers are performed to validate the effec-tiveness of the proposed method.     

基于旋转矩阵的预设时间航天器编队姿态协同控制

由多个航天器组成的编队系统对复杂的环境往往具有较高的适应性和容错性,能更高效率地完成单航天器难以完成的任务。因此主要针对多航天器系统的姿态协同控制问题,提出一种基于旋转矩阵的预设时间控制算法。首先,为了避免航天器姿态建模的奇异性和模糊性问题,采用旋转矩阵对航天器的姿态进行统一描述,同时结合有向的通信拓扑对航天器姿态协同控制系统进行建模。其次,为赋予系统可控的收敛速度,提出一种基于滑模的预设时间控制算法。该算法的引入使得航天器编队系统的收敛时间可以在合理的范围内任意给定。此外,为了实现系统对参数摄动和外部干扰的鲁棒性,采用神经网络和自适应算法对不确定性进行在线估计与补偿。最后,通过理论分析和数值仿真验证了所提预设时间控制算法的有效性。     

Composite control method for stabilizing spacecraft attitude in terms of Rodrigues parameters

In this paper, the attitude stabilization problem of a rigid spacecraft described by Rodrigues parameters is investigated via a composite control strategy, which combines a feedback control law designed by a finite time control technique with a feedforward compensator based on a linear disturbance observer (DOB) method. By choosing a suitable coordinate transformation, the spacecraft dynamics can be divided into three second-order subsystems. Each subsystem includes a certain part and an uncertain part. By using the finite time control technique, a continuous finite time controller is designed for the certain part. The uncertain part is considered to be a lumped disturbance, which is estimated by a DOB, and a corresponding feedforward design is then implemented to compensate the disturbance. Simulation results are employed to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

A composite control scheme for attitude maneuvering and elastic mode stabilization of flexible spacecraft with measurable output feedback

This paper treats the question of attitude maneuver control and elastic mode stabilization of a flexible spacecraft based on adaptive sliding mode theory and active vibration control technique using piezoelectric materials. More precisely, a modified positive position feedback (PPF) scheme is developed to design the PPF compensator gains in a more systematical way to stabilize the vibration modes in the inner loop, in which a cost function is introduced to be minimized by the feedback gains subject to the stability criterion at the same time. Based on adaptive sliding mode control theory, a discontinuous attitude control law is derived to achieve the desired position of the spacecraft, taking explicitly into account the mismatched perturbation and actuator constraints. In the attitude control law, an adaptive mechanism is also embedded such that the unknown upper bound of perturbation is automatically adapted. Once the controlled attitude control system reaches the switching hyperplane, the state variables can be driven into a small bounded region. An additional attractive feature of the attitude control method is that the structure of the controller is independent of the elastic mode dynamics of the spacecraft, since in practice the measurement of flexible modes is not easy or feasible. The proposed control strategy has been implemented on a flexible spacecraft. Both analytical and numerical results are presented to show the theoretical and practical merit of this approach.     

Adaptive Integral-type Sliding Mode Control for Spacecraft Attitude Maneuvering Under Actuator Stuck Failures

A fault tolerant control (FTC) design technique against actuator stuck faults is investigated using integral-type sliding mode control (ISMC) with application to spacecraft attitude maneuvering control system. The principle of the proposed FTC scheme is to design an integral-type sliding mode attitude controller using on-line parameter adaptive updating law to compensate for the effects of stuck actuators. This adaptive law also provides both the estimates of the system parameters and external disturbances such that a prior knowledge of the spacecraft inertia or boundedness of disturbances is not required. Moreover, by including the integral feedback term, the designed controller can not only tolerate actuator stuck faults, but also compensate the disturbances with constant components. For the synthesis of controller, the fault time, patterns and values are unknown in advance, as motivated from a practical spacecraft control application. Complete stability and performance analysis are presented and illustrative simulation results of application to a spacecraft show that high precise attitude control with zero steady-error is successfully achieved using various scenarios of stuck failures in actuators.     

Exponential Time-varying Sliding Mode Control for Large Angle Attitude Eigenaxis Maneuver of Rigid Spacecraft

An eigenaxis maneuver strategy with global robustness is studied for large angle attitude maneuver of rigid spacecraft. A sliding mode attitude control algorithm with an exponential time-varying sliding surface is designed, which guarantees the sliding mode occurrence at the beginning and eliminates the reaching phase of time-invariant sliding mode control. The proposed control law is global robust against matched external disturbances and system uncertainties, and ensures the eigenaxis rotation in the presence of disturbances and parametric uncertainties. The stability of the control law and the existence of global siding mode are proved by Lyapunov method. Furthermore, the system states can be fully predicted by the analytical solution of state equations, which indicates that the attitude error does not exhibit any overshoots and the system has a good dynamic response. A control torque command regulator is introduced to ensure the eigenaxis rotation under the actuator saturation. Finally, a numerical simulation is employed to illustrate the advantages of the proposed control law.     

利用飞轮的航天器姿态跟踪与能量存储

研究航天器集成能量与姿态控制系统中飞轮的控制律。系统中飞轮是姿态控制的执行机构,同时也是储能装置。首先利用Lyapunov方法设计了航天器姿态跟踪的反馈控制律,然后研究一种力矩形式的飞轮控制律。利用奇异值分解方法把飞轮组的控制力矩向量分解为3部分相互正交的力矩向量,一部分用来提供姿态控制力矩,一部分用来以给定的功率储能,另一部分完成轮速平衡以避免由于各飞轮轮速差异过大引起的飞轮饱和。提出了一种基于动能反馈的储能功率规划方案来保证系统的能量平衡,可以避免由于过剩能量引起的飞轮饱和。数值仿真结果验证了控制方案的有效性。     

共位衍射电磁航天器成像过程中的小推力控制 (新型推进系统控制专栏)

为了满足衍射成像系统在解决低轨遥感航天器覆盖范围小、目标重访周期长等问题的同时,而引入的航天器相对位置、姿态控制需求。针对共位衍射航天器相对位置、姿态控制过程中传统推力器带来的羽流污染问题,本文采用电磁推力器和飞轮作为执行器,设计一种基于快速非奇异滑模的轨道控制器和基于PID的姿态控制器。所设计的快速非奇异滑模轨道控制器为共位衍射航天器频繁位置调整提供控制保障,基于PID的姿态控制器能够消除由电磁力耦合产生的电磁干扰力矩。研究结果表明：基于相对轨道动力学方程设计的快速非奇异滑模控制律鲁棒性好、收敛速度快,能够达到两颗共位衍射电磁航天器沿z轴保持在10m相对距离的控制效果。在轨道调整过程中,其姿态能够通过PID算法稳定控制到期望姿态,使衍射成像结构一直保持不变,从而有效完成衍射成像任务。     

Fault tolerant attitude control of under-actuated spacecraft: Theory and experiment

This paper investigates fault tolerant attitude control theory and experiment for under-actuated spacecraft with one reaction wheel completely broken and two others suffering actuator faults of partial loss of effectiveness or bias. A non-smooth robust adaptive fault tolerant control law is proposed under the zero-momentum and input saturation conditions. It shows that the available reaction wheels need to produce sufficient control torque for the fault tolerance. Such a new control method is implemented in a semi-physical simulation system of an air-bearing platform. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method in spacecraft practical engineering.