Spacecraft formation flying control around L2 sun-earth libration point using on–off SDRE approach

In this paper, on–off SDRE control approach is presented for spacecraft formation flying control around sun-earth L2 libration point. Orbits around libration points are significant targets for many space missions mainly because of efficient fuel consumption. Furthermore, less propellant usage can be achieved by considering optimal control approaches in spacecraft formation flying control design. Among various nonlinear and optimal control methods, SDRE has shown to be a popular controller in various missions due to the privileges including efficiency, accuracy and robustness. The spacecraft are assumed to have on–off thrusters as actuators. It requires them to be fed with a sequence of on–off pulses which is regarded as a challenge for spacecraft designers. Hence, the main contribution of this paper is designing an on–off SDRE approach for the formation flight around sun-earth L2 point with uncertainty with energy and accuracy considerations. Including on–off input as a constraint is not feasible for SDRE implementation because it makes the system non-affine. An alternative is utilizing an integral action technique and an auxiliary control to make the system affine which leads to on–off SDRE approach. It has also been shown that the proposed method is robust against parametric uncertainties of the states. Present study aims to design an energy-beneficial, simple and attractive controller for a complex nonlinear system with on–off inputs and uncertainty in CRTBP. Simulation results show that the on–off SDRE control could provide the formation flight around L2 point with high accuracy using less energy consumption.     

航天器运输包装箱仿真验证平台技术研究

针对数量有限的物理跑车试验无法满足减振与保温性能测试需求的问题，提出一套航天器运输包装箱动力学与热学仿真验证方法，包括：建立适用于包装箱系统的刚柔耦合多体动力学系统，通过结合线路条件测试生成的动力学系统外部激励，实现减振性能虚拟跑车测试；建立基于计算流体力学的包装箱热学模型，通过模拟自然对流和空调控制，实现包装箱保温性能虚拟跑车测试；基于C/S架构和导航式流程设计思想，建立航天器运输包装箱仿真验证平台，通过实际案例证明该平台仿真结果与实际跑车测试数据具有较高的一致性。     

航天器时态规划技术研究进展

结合航天器自主运行的迫切需求,阐述了航天器任务规划问题给智能规划技术带来的挑战,并重点分析了具有时间属性的规划方法研究必要性。给出航天器时态规划定义,分别总结了状态空间时态规划建模方法和基于时间线的时态规划建模方法,并给出时态规划知识模型关键元素定义。根据规划方法发展现状,归纳总结前向链、模型转换、规划空间规划和分层任务网络四种方法在时态规划技术方面的特点和研究进展,着重描述各种方法对规划中时间要素的处理。在对目前的航天器时态规划技术发展趋势总结分析基础上,给出了未来航天器时态规划技术的发展建议。     

Correlation of IRTAM and FPMU data confirming the application of IRTAM to support ISS Program safety

A “Real-Time” plasma hazard assessment process was developed to support International Space Station (ISS) Program real-time decision-making providing solar array constraint relief information for Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) planning and operations. This process incorporates real-time ionospheric conditions, ISS solar arrays’ orientation, ISS flight attitude, and where the EVA will be performed on the ISS. This assessment requires real-time data that is presently provided by the Floating Potential Measurement Unit (FPMU) which measures the ISS floating potential (FP), along with ionospheric electron number density (Ne) and electron temperature (Te), in order to determine the present ISS environment. Once the present environment conditions are correlated with International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) values, IRI is used to forecast what the environment could become in the event of a severe geomagnetic storm. If the FPMU should fail, the Space Environments team needs another source of data which is utilized to support a short-term forecast for EVAs. The IRI Real-Time Assimilative Mapping (IRTAM) model is an ionospheric model that uses real-time measurements from a large network of digisondes to produce foF2 and hmF2 global maps in 15?min cadence. The Boeing Space Environments team has used the IRI coefficients produced in IRTAM to calculate the Ne along the ISS orbital track. The results of the IRTAM model have been compared to FPMU measurements and show excellent agreement. IRTAM has been identified as the FPMU back-up system that will be used to support the ISS Program if the FPMU should fail.     

航天器姿态预设性能控制方法综述

针对存在不确定惯量矩阵及其它未知不确定性(如执行器故障、航天器结构发生突变等)下的航天器姿态控制问题，综述了预设性能控制及其应用的研究进展。首先阐释了预设性能控制方法的基本内涵及其关键步骤；然后分析总结了现有航天器姿态控制以及预设性能控制研究的基本概况与发展趋势；最后面向未来复杂化、智能化的空间任务对航天器控制系统提出的新需求，提出航天器预设性能控制值得研究的问题和方向。     

基于纹理边界检测的航天器椭圆特征提取方法

为确定失效航天器等非合作目标的相对位姿，提出一种通过纹理边界检测的椭圆特征提取方法。该方法假设椭圆特征是航天器表面两种不同纹理的边界，利用上一时刻相对位姿信息，将对接环离散几何模型投影到像平面，并沿各离散点的法向方向通过概率方法检测纹理边界点。利用随机抽样一致(RANSAC)方法剔除边界点中的粗大误差，进而拟合出椭圆参数。纹理特征对光照变化具有鲁棒性，因此该方法能够在变光照、星体表面反光不均匀等复杂情况下快速准确地提取图像中的椭圆特征。本文以对接环图像特征提取为例进行仿真校验，分析了算法参数和噪声对提取椭圆精度和时间的影响。利用真实图像与基于梯度边缘的椭圆提取方法进行对比，结果表明，所提出的算法具有较高的精度和速度。     

Event-triggered attitude control of spacecraft

The problem of spacecraft attitude stabilization control system with limited communication and external disturbances is investigated based on an event-triggered control scheme. In the proposed scheme, information of attitude and control torque only need to be transmitted at some discrete triggered times when a defined measurement error exceeds a state-dependent threshold. The proposed control scheme not only guarantees that spacecraft attitude control errors converge toward a small invariant set containing the origin, but also ensures that there is no accumulation of triggering instants. The performance of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated through numerical simulation.     

Robust model predictive control for satellite formation keeping with eccentricity/inclination vector separation

This study presents model predictive formation control based on an eccentricity/inclination vector separation strategy. Alternative collision avoidance can be accomplished by using eccentricity/inclination vectors and adding a simple goal function term for optimization process. Real-time control is also achievable with model predictive controller based on convex formulation. Constraint-tightening approach is address as well improve robustness of the controller, and simulation results are presented to verify performance enhancement for the proposed approach.