Decentralized sliding-mode control for spacecraft attitude synchronization under actuator failures

This paper examines attitude synchronization and tracking problems with model uncertainties, external disturbances, actuator failures and control torque saturation. Two decentralized sliding mode control laws are proposed and analyzed based on algebraic graph theory. Using Barbalat׳s Lemma, it is shown that the control laws guarantee each spacecraft approaches the desired time-varying attitude and angular velocity while maintaining attitude synchronization among the other spacecraft in the formation. The first controller is designed in the presence of model uncertainties, external disturbances, and actuator failures. The results are extended to the case with control input saturation in the second controller. Both control laws do not require online identification of failures. Numerical simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed attitude synchronization and tracking approaches.     

球载高能天文望远镜的超视距自动跟踪

本文在HAPI-4原有系统的基础上，利用80C196超16位单片机，首次实现了球载姿态指向控制系统的数字化；借助于全球卫星定位系统GPS，实现了气球位置的高精度定位和时间的绝对定标；采用小型高密度磁带机作为球载数据流存储器，利用海事卫星实现超视距测控，形成了新一代的球载高能望远镜控制系统．     

Sensitivity studies of the deployment of a square inflatable solar sail with vanes

This paper summarizes the results of numerical experiments to determine the sensitivity of the final attitude of an inflatable solar sail with vanes after deployment to various parameters affecting the deployment process. These parameters are: in- and out-of-plane asymmetries during deployment, length inflation profile, and vane deployment failures. We show how robust the sail deployment is to geometric asymmetries before a 35° off-Sun angle is reached. Differential delays in the time to inflate the booms and a boom sweep-back angle affect the stability favorably. Adjacent vane failures to deploy affect the stability unfavorably, while the failure of opposing vanes is acceptable. Realistic boom length rate profiles obtained during ground tests are used in the simulation showing that failing adjacent vanes in conjunction with initial inflation delays in adjacent booms represent the worst case. We also demonstrate that by feeding back attitude and attitude rate measurements so that a corrective action is taken during the deployment, the final attitude can be maintained very close to the initial attitude, thus mitigating the attitude changes incurred during deployment.     

Control system design of the Korean lunar lander demonstrator

In preparation for the lunar exploration program scheduled to be launched during the early 2020s in Korea, a lunar lander demonstrator, which will be used for developing and demonstrating lunar landing technologies, is being developed. The control configuration of the lunar lander demonstrator is determined with the consideration of available technologies and flight requirements. It is suggested that altitude control be achieved by clustering five 200 N monopropellant thrusters and attitude control with eight 3 N thrusters. A control algorithm designed to follow a predefined trajectory is developed using quaternion feedback. Control system configuration and control logic are verified by using computer simulations. Simulation results show that a soft landing with a touchdown velocity of less than 3 m/s is achieved. Attitude control performance is also verified using computer simulations. The developed control configuration will be further tested by hardware in the loop simulations and ground based firing tests during the next phase of the study.     

Minimum sliding mode error feedback control for fault tolerant small satellite attitude control

This paper proposes a new control strategy (which we call “minimum sliding mode error feedback control, MSMEFC”) for small satellite attitude control. As we know, the attitude control algorithm plays a significant role in the whole performance of the satellite, especially under the existence of uncertain disturbances from the space. Without loss of generality, the MSMEFC is presented based on the sliding mode theory. It is assumed that the equivalent control error is defined to offset the uncertain disturbances to improve the control performance. Hence, in order to estimate the optimal equivalent control error, a cost function is derived on the basis of the principle of minimum sliding mode error. Then, the equivalent control error wills feedback to the conventional sliding mode control to obtain the final MSMEFC. According to the theoretical analyzes, the sliding mode after the MSMEFC will approximate to the ideal sliding mode, resulting in enhancing the control performance. Moreover, an adaptive non-singular terminal sliding mode is employed to compare with the performance of MSMEFC. Several simulations are performed to verify the effectiveness of proposed MSMEFC in the presence of serious perturbations, even in some fault-tolerant scenarios.     

Langley method applied in study of aerosol optical depth in the Brazilian semiarid region using 500, 670 and 870 nm bands for sun photometer calibration

Due to the high costs of commercial monitoring instruments, a portable sun photometer was developed at INPE/CRN laboratories, operating in four bands, with two bands in the visible spectrum and two in near infrared. The instrument calibration process is performed by applying the classical Langley method. Application of the Langley’s methodology requires a site with high optical stability during the measurements, which is usually found in high altitudes. However, far from being an ideal site, Harrison et al. (1994) report success with applying the Langley method to some data for a site in Boulder, Colorado. Recently, Liu et al. (2011) show that low elevation sites, far away from urban and industrial centers can provide a stable optical depth, similar to high altitudes. In this study we investigated the feasibility of applying the methodology in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil, far away from pollution areas with low altitudes, for sun photometer calibration. We investigated optical depth stability using two periods of measurements in the year during dry season in austral summer. The first one was in December when the native vegetation naturally dries, losing all its leaves and the second one was in September in the middle of the dry season when the vegetation is still with leaves. The data were distributed during four days in December 2012 and four days in September 2013 totaling eleven half days of collections between mornings and afternoons and by means of fitted line to the data V₀ values were found. Despite the high correlation between the collected data and the fitted line, the study showed a variation between the values of V₀ greater than allowed for sun photometer calibration. The lowest V₀ variation reached in this experiment with values lower than 3% for the bands 500, 670 and 870 nm are displayed in tables. The results indicate that the site needs to be better characterized with studies in more favorable periods, soon after the rainy season.     

雷达TR生产线测试系统远程现场整体校准技术研究

针对TR生产线中，用于多品种、小批量产品测试的大型测试系统在质量控制、现场快速、整体校准等方面存在的计量难点和痛点问题，设计标准化、通用化的现场传递标准件和统型的计量适配器，并建立远程计量管控系统，以信息化平台为支撑，攻克远程自动在线计量大型系统级设备整体校准等难题，实现雷达TR生产线测试系统远程自动现场整体快速校准。     

Attitude stability and periodic attitudes of rigid spacecrafts on the stationary orbits around asteroid 216 Kleopatra

In this work, equilibrium attitude configurations, attitude stability and periodic attitude families are investigated for rigid spacecrafts moving on stationary orbits around asteroid 216 Kleopatra. The polyhedral approach is adopted to formulate the equations of rotational motion. In this dynamical model, six equilibrium attitude configurations with non-zero Euler angles are identified for a spacecraft moving on each stationary orbit. Then the linearized equations of attitude motion at equilibrium attitudes are derived. Based on the linear system, the necessary conditions of stability of equilibrium attitudes are provided, and stability domains on the spacecraft’s characteristic plane are obtained. It is found that the stability domains are distributed in the first and third quadrants of the characteristic plane and the stability domain in the third quadrant is separated into two regions by an unstable belt. Subsequently, we present the linear solution around a stable equilibrium attitude point, indicating that there are three types of elemental periodic attitudes. By means of numerical approaches, three fundamental families of periodic solutions are determined in the full attitude model.     

Nonlinear filtering for sequential spacecraft attitude estimation with real data: Cubature Kalman Filter,Unscented Kalman Filter and Extended Kalman Filter

This article compares the attitude estimated by nonlinear estimator Cubature Kalman Filter with results obtained by the Extended Kalman Filter and Unscented Kalman Filter. Currently these estimators are the subject of great interest in attitude estimation problems, however, mostly the Extended Kalman Filter has been applied to real problems of this nature. In order to evaluate the behavior of the Extended Kalman Filter, Unscented Kalman Filter and Cubature Kalman Filter algorithms when submitted to realistic situations, this paper uses real data of sensors on-board the CBERS-2 remote sensing satellite (China Brazil Earth Resources Satellite). It is observed that, for the case studied in this article, the filters are very competitive and present advantages and disadvantages that should be dealt with according to the requirements of the problem.     

LaBr3(Ce)元件破损在线监测关键核素确定及效率校准

常用的元件破损在线监测方法受外在因素影响较大，以γ能谱中关键裂变产物核素比活度进行在线定量分析是一种可靠的元件破损监测方法。针对新型LaBr₃(Ce)元件破损监测仪，设计了元件破损模拟实验，对逸出的裂变产物采用HPGe和LaBr₃(Ce)探测器进行了对比测量。通过不同冷却时间γ能谱的核素分析，确定了¹³⁵Xe，⁸⁸Kr，¹³⁸Xe，⁸⁸Rb，¹³⁸Cs等可作为LaBr₃(Ce)元件破损γ能谱监测的关键核素。同时，制备了覆盖能量范围(250～2 400)keV，含⁶⁰Co，¹³⁷Cs，¹³³Ba；²⁴¹Am，¹⁵²Eu；¹⁰⁹Cd，⁸⁸Y，⁵⁷Co及²⁴Na的4组放射性标准溶液，在建立的效率校准系统上，校准了LaBr₃(Ce)在线监测仪的效率。在反应堆一次异常情况分析中，已校准的LaBr₃(Ce)元件破损监测仪对关键核素的现场分析结果与HPGe的取样分析结果一致，表明效率校准结果准确，校准方法可靠。