Spacecraft energy storage systems

Flywheel Energy Storage Systems represent an exciting alternative to traditional battery storage systems used to power satellites during periods of eclipse. The increasing demand for reliable communication and data access is driving explosive growth in the number of satellite systems being developed as well as their performance requirements. Power-on orbit is the key to this performance, and batteries are becoming increasingly unattractive as an energy storage media. Flywheel systems offer very attractive characteristics for both energy storage, in terms of energy density and the number of charge/discharge cycles, and the important side benefit of spacecraft attitude control     

航天器姿控系统的PD型学习观测器故障重构

针对满足Lipschitz条件的航天器姿态控制系统这一非线性系统中存在的执行器加性故障、空间干扰与测量噪声问题,提出了基于PD型迭代学习观测器的故障重构方法。该方法具有期望的鲁棒性能指标,能够在系统存在空间干扰与测量噪声情况下实现对突变故障与时变故障等故障类型的精确重构。基于线性矩阵不等式技术给出系统化PD型迭代学习观测器的设计方法,并根据Lyapunov稳定性理论对上述设计方法的稳定性条件进行了理论证明,同时利用鲁棒技术抑制空间干扰与测量噪声对执行器故障重构的影响,通过线性矩阵不等式工具箱求解观测器参数矩阵。最后,将该方法应用到航天器姿态控制系统中,仿真结果证明了该方法的有效性。     

Simultaneous state and actuator fault estimation for satellite attitude control systems

In this paper, a new nonlinear augmented observer is proposed and applied to satellite attitude control systems. The observer can estimate system state and actuator fault simultaneously. It can enhance the performances of rapidly-varying faults estimation. Only original system matrices are adopted in the parameter design. The considered faults can be unbounded, and the proposed augmented observer can estimate a large class of faults. Systems without disturbances and the fault whose finite times derivatives are zero piecewise are initially considered, followed by a discussion of a general situation where the system is subject to disturbances and the finite times derivatives of the faults are not null but bounded. For the considered nonlinear system, convergence conditions of the observer are provided and the stability analysis is performed using Lyapunov direct method. Then a feasible algorithm is explored to compute the observer parameters using linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated by considering an example of a closed-loop satellite attitude control system. The simulation results show satisfactory perfor-mance in estimating states and actuator faults. It also shows that multiple faults can be estimated successfully.     

Spacecraft attitude/rate estimation using vector-aided GPSobservations

A sequential filtering algorithm is presented for spacecraft attitude and attitude-rate estimation from Global Positioning System (GPS) differential carrier phase measurements. A third-order, minimal-parameter method for solving the attitude matrix kinematic equation is used to parameterize the state of the filter, which renders the resulting estimator computationally efficient. Borrowing from tracking theory concepts, the angular acceleration is modeled as an exponentially autocorrelated stochastic process, thus avoiding the use of the uncertain spacecraft dynamic model. The new formulation facilitates the use of aiding vector observations in a unified filtering algorithm, which can enhance the robustness and accuracy of the method. Numerical examples are used to demonstrate the performance of the method     

Thruster design for position/attitude control of spacecraft

The objective of this work is to design the configuration of thrusters and valves of a propulsion system which should reject external and internal perturbations to control position and attitude of a spacecraft. As has been proved in a previous paper by Pena et al. (see ibid., vol. 36, no. 3, 2000), there exist configurations of 6 thrusters which can achieve this task, even under the failure of any one of them. Nevertheless, that previous result only presents analysis conditions and furthermore its implementation would demand also 6 valves, one for each thruster. Here we propose a design method that can solve the aforementioned problem with 6 thrusters/3 valves.     

Adaptive control for attitude coordination of leader-following rigid spacecraft systems with inertia parameter uncertainties

This paper studies the leader-following attitude coordination problems of multiple spacecraft in the presence of inertia parameter uncertainties. To achieve attitude coordination in the situation that even the leader's attitude is only applicable to a part of the following spacecraft, a nonlinear attitude observer is proposed to obtain an accurate estimation of the leader's attitude and angular velocity for all the followers. In addition, a distributed control scheme based on noncertainty equivalence principle is presented for multiple spacecraft' attitude synchronization. With a dynamic scaling, attitude consensus can be achieved asymptotically without any information of the bounds of the uncertain inertia parameters. Furthermore, once the estimations of inertia parameters reach their ideal values, the estimation process will stop and the ideal value of inertia parameter will be held. This is a special advantage of parameter estimation method based on non-certainty equivalence. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate that the proposed non-certainty equivalence-based method requires smaller control toque and converges faster compared with the certainty equivalence-based method.     

Microsatellite Laser Altimeter

A feasibility study is presented of a laser altimeter conceived as an auxiliary device of an imaging camera to perform stereo pairs correction by high accuracy range measurements. System configuration is compliant to microsatellite constraints and is integrated to a high-resolution imaging sensor. System performance analysis is carried out by means of analytical models and computer codes and plots are presented to select key parameters allowing definition of a preliminary laser altimeter configuration     

Data-driven model-free adaptive attitude control of partially constrained combined spacecraft with external disturbances and input saturation

This study presents an improved data-driven Model-Free Adaptive Control(MFAC)strategy for attitude stabilization of a partially constrained combined spacecraft with external disturbances and input saturation. First, a novel dynamic linearization data model for the partially constrained combined spacecraft with external disturbances is established. The generalized disturbances composed of external disturbances and dynamic linearization errors are then reconstructed by a Discrete Extended State Observer(DESO). With the dynamic linearization data model and reconstructed information, a DESO-MFAC strategy for the combined spacecraft is proposed based only on input and output data. Next, the input saturation is overcome by introducing an antiwindup compensator. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed controller when the dynamic properties of the partially constrained combined spacecraft are completely unknown.     

High energy density regenerative fuel cell systems for terrestrialapplications

Regenerative Fuel Cell System (RFCS) technology for energy storage has been a NASA power system concept for many years. Compared to battery-based energy storage systems, RFCS has received relatively little attention or resources for development because the energy density and electrical efficiency were not sufficiently attractive relative to advanced battery systems. Even today, RFCS remains at a very low technology readiness level (TRL of about 2 indicating feasibility has been demonstrated). Commercial development of the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells for automobiles and other terrestrial applications and improvements in lightweight pressure vessel design to reduce weight and improve performance make possible a high energy density RFCS energy storage system. The results from this study of a lightweight RFCS energy storage system for a remotely piloted, solar-powered, high altitude aircraft indicate an energy density up to 790 wh/kg with electrical efficiency of 53.4% is attainable. Such an energy storage system would allow a solar-powered aircraft to carry hundreds of kilograms of payload and remain in flight indefinitely for use in atmospheric research, Earth observation, resource mapping, and telecommunications. Future developments in the areas of hydrogen and oxygen storage, pressure vessel design, higher temperature and higher pressure fuel cell operation, unitized regenerative fuel cells, and commercial development of fuel cell technology will improve both the energy density and electrical efficiency of the RFCS     

基于LQG/LTR的高超声速飞行器全通道姿态控制

针对高超声速飞行器具有强烈的非线性、耦合及不确定性等特点,且存在系统噪声和量测噪声,使姿态控制变得困难的问题,提出了采用LQG/LTR控制方法进行全通道姿态控制的思路。首先,在平衡点通过小偏差线性化方法建立多变量耦合的控制模型;然后,运用LQG/LTR控制方法设计姿态控制器。仿真结果表明,在有高斯噪声情况下,所设计的姿态控制系统实现了指令精确跟踪,具有较强的鲁棒性。     

A combined approach to scheduling aperiodic problems in real-time systems

A problem on dynamic determination of a time interval in scheduling aperiodic requests in real-time systems is considered. It is shown that the application of a combined approach based on the combination of the probability method and the method of fuzzy sets provides an effective problem solution.     

Formation control for networked multiagent systems with a minimum energy constraint

Minimum-energy formation achievement problems for networked multiagent systems are investigated, where information networks with leaderless and leader-follower structures are respectively addressed and information networks are randomly switching. The critical feature of this work is that the energy constraint is minimum in the sense of the linear matrix inequality, but limited-budget control and guaranteed-cost control cannot realize a minimum-energy formation. Firstly, the leaderless minimum-energy formation control problem is converted into an asymptotic stability one via a nonsingular transformation and state space decomposition, and based on linear matrix inequality techniques, sufficient conditions for analysis and design of leaderless minimum-energy formation achievement are proposed, respectively, which can be solved by the generalized eigenvalue method. Then, main results of minimum-energy formation achievement of leaderless networked multiagent systems are extended leader-follower networked multiagent systems, where the asymmetric property of the leader-follower information network is well dealt with by two nonsingular transformations. Finally, two simulation examples are shown to verify the main results for minimum-energy formation achievements of leaderless and leader-follower networked multiagent systems, respectively.     

Instantaneous GPS attitude determination

A procedure for instantaneous GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) attitude determination, i.e., a solution for the GPS integrated carrier Doppler wavelength ambiguities using only measurements at a single epoch, is described. Most previous techniques to solve the phase ambiguity problem have required some form of time history processing relying on GPS satellite and/or user motion to provide enough geometry change to eliminate false solutions. The algorithm described assumes three noncollinear antennas and integrated carrier Doppler measurements from four or more satellites. Double-difference processing provides at least three independent observables for the two antenna separation vectors to compute the three attitude Euler angles     

On energy effectiveness of an air turbine in the blade cooling systems

In this paper, we consider the thermogasodynamic relations describing the working process in the axial-radial gas turbine stage when the working fluid flows inside the rotor blades taking into account the initiation of the Coriolis forces and heating. The expressions for the air turbine efficiency are derived and illustrated by the calculation results.     

Spacecraft spin axis attitude determination

A mathematical formulation of the spacecraft spin axis attitude determination problem in the form of a norm constrained-least-squares minimization problem is provided. The formulation has a mathematically transparent interpretation as a search for the optimal unit vector on the surface of the unit sphere. Two algorithms are developed and compared by simulation. The results show a tradeoff between estimation accuracy and computational requirements. One algorithm is about three times more accurate than the other and is therefore recommended even though it requires about 20% more in computer storage and operations, and about 50% more in central processing unit time     

Star trackers for attitude determination

One problem comes to all spacecrafts using vector information. That is the problem of determining the attitude. This paper describes how the area of attitude determination instruments has evolved from simple pointing devices into the latest technology, which determines the attitude by utilizing a CCD camera and a powerful microcomputer. The instruments are called star trackers and they are capable of determining the attitude with an accuracy better than 1 arcsecond. The concept of the star tracker is explained. The obtainable accuracy is calculated, the numbers of stars to be included in the star catalogue are discussed and the acquisition of the initial attitude is explained. Finally the commercial market for star trackers is discussed     

Star-configuration searching for satellite attitude computation

A star pattern recognition algorithm is described which recovers attitude information by processing data obtained from a modular star sensor (MOSS) mounted on a spacecraft information is obtained by matching the stars detected by the MOSS with those inside a stellar catalogue. The system performance has been evaluated both from the point of view of computation time and error probability. The effect of errors in the MOSS measurements and multiple matches cases are also discussed     

四元数在刚体姿态仿真中的应用研究

以对称重陀螺为例,探讨了四元数在刚体姿态仿真中的应用及应用中存在的问题,指出姿态用四元数描述具有解算速度快、不会出现奇异的优点,但四元数方程中隐含的约束是微分形式,导致其对仿真时间步长有严格的限制,这在一定程度上限制了它的应用,最后讨论了用四元数实现姿态描描述惟一性的问题,并提出了“标准”四元数的概念。