Periodic event-triggered formation control for multi-UAV systems with collision avoidance

In this paper, periodic event-triggered formation control problems with collision avoidance are studied for leader–follower multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Firstly, based on the Artificial Potential Field (APF) method, a novel sliding manifold is proposed for controller design, which can solve the problem of collision avoidance. Then, the event-triggered strategy is applied to the distributed formation control of multi-UAV systems, where the evaluation of the event condition is continuous. In addition, the exclusion of Zeno behavior can be guaranteed by the inter-event time between two successive trigger events have a positive lower bound. Next, a periodic event-triggered mechanism is developed for formation control based on the continuous event-triggered mechanism. The periodic trigger mechanism does not need additional hardware circuits and sophisticated sensors, which can reduce the control cost. The stability of the control system is proved by the Lyapunov function method. Finally, some numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control protocol.     

Formation flying for magnetic sails around artificial equilibrium points

This paper investigates the problem of magnetic sail-based spacecraft formation control around the artificial equilibrium points (AEPs), which can eliminate the requirement of the propellant. The thrusts are achieved by utilizing the interaction between the solar wind and the artificial magnetosphere generated by superconducting current coil onboard. The circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP) of magnetic sail is discussed including the allowed regions and linear stability of AEPs, the locations of collinear AEPs and the possibility of existence of periodic orbits around the collinear AEPs. Next, the dynamical models of magnetic sail formation around the collinear AEPs are established. A novel fast fixed-time nonsingular terminal sliding mode controller (FFNTSM) based on fixed-time disturbance observer (FTDO) is developed to account for external disturbances. Several numerical simulations are conducted to substantiate that spacecraft formation can be precisely controlled by the proposed propellantless propulsion method in the presence of external disturbances.     

编队星座星间相对状态测量的间接实现

研究利用编队卫星间伪距测量值 ,自主确定编队星座星间相对状态的有关问题。文中针对编队星座的卫星之间存在发射和接收天线不能相互覆盖的情况 ,提出了间接覆盖概念。并给出系统的数学模型 ,分析实现间接覆盖的方法并进行协方差分析。最后 ,对间接覆盖情况作了仿真 ,仿真结果证明间接覆盖在星间相对状态测量中的可行性     

利用姿态机动的绳系卫星编队系统轨道协同控制

为克服绳系卫星编队系统在轨道机动过程中的系绳摆动现象，提出一种通过调整领航星推力方向进而实现编队系统轨道跟踪的控制算法。由于推力方向角与状态量互相耦合且少于系统自由度个数，轨道协同控制属于典型的非仿射欠驱动控制问题。针对此问题，首先采用升阶法将角速度作为虚拟控制输入；然后为各子系统设计子滑模面后加权得到高层滑模面和等效控制输入律，并设计观测器估计系统非线性项；其次基于模型预测控制算法优化得到最高层滑模面的趋近控制律；最后采用MATLAB/Simulink验证了所提控制算法的有效性。     

水面无人艇集群编队控制技术综述

随着海上作业任务的日渐复杂以及水面无人艇控制理论的发展，单水面无人艇航行控制能力的局限性逐渐显现，集群编队控制技术得到了广泛关注。针对水面无人艇集群编队控制技术，分析了当前国内外应用情况与技术研究现状，重点从典型编队队形适用性、编队控制系统结构形式、编队协同控制方法、编队控制通信技术及异构条件下协同控制技术等方面分析了水面无人艇集群编队控制技术的研究进展。最后，进行了总结和展望，以期为水面无人艇集群编队控制技术的研究提供有益的参考。     

Spin deployment of Hub-Spoke tethered satellite formation with sliding mode tether tension control

This work develops a tension control strategy for deploying an underactuated spin-stable tethered satellite formation in the hub-spoke configuration. First, the Lagrange equation is used to model the spin-deployment dynamics of the tethered satellite formation. The central spacecraft is modeled as a rigid body, and the tethered subsatellites are simplified as lumped masses. Second, a pure tension controller has been proposed to suppress the tether libration motion in the deployment without thrusting at the subsatellites. A nonlinear sliding mode control is introduced in the tension controller for the underactuated system to suppress the periodic gravitational perturbations caused by the spinning hub-spoke tethered satellite formation. The unknown upper bounds of the perturbations are estimated by adaptive control law. The bounded stability of the closed-loop tension controller has been proved by the Lyapunov theory. Finally, numerical simulations validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controller, i.e., tethers are fully deployed stably to the desired hub-spoke configuration.     

Fractional order adaptive robust formation control of multiple quad-rotor UAVs with parametric uncertainties and wind disturbances

In recent times, multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being widely utilized in several areas of applications such as agriculture, surveillance, disaster management, search and rescue operations. Degree of robustness of applied control schemes determines how accurate a swarm of UAVs accomplish group tasks. Formation and trajectory tracking controllers are required for the swarm of multiple UAVs. Factors like external environmental effects, parametric uncertainties and wind gusts make the controller design process as a challenging task. This article proposes fractional order formation and trajectory tacking controllers for multiple quad-rotors using Super Twisting Sliding Mode Control (STSMC) technique. To compensate the effects of the disturbances due to parametric uncertainties and wind gusts, Lyapunov function based adaptive controllers are formulated. Moreover, Lyapunov theorem is used to guarantee the stability of the proposed controllers. Three types of controllers, namely fixed gain STSMC and fractional order Adaptive Super Twisting Sliding Mode Control (ASTSMC) methods are tested for the swarm of UAVs by performing the numerical simulations in MATLAB/Simulink environment. From the presented results, it is verified that in presence of wind disturbances and parametric uncertainties, the proposed fractional order ASTSMC technique showed improved robustness as compared to the fixed gain STSMC and integer order ASTSMC.     

Robust optimal sliding mode control for the deployment of Coulomb spacecraft formation flying

Inter-spacecraft electrostatic force (Coulomb force) is desirable for close formation flying control because of its propellant-less and free contaminate characteristics attributed to the propellant exhaust emission. This paper presents robust optimal sliding mode control to deal with the problem of thruster saturation in tracking the formation trajectory for Coulomb spacecraft formation flying. The robust controller design is based on optimal control theory as a linear quadratic system, and it is augmented with an integral sliding mode control technique. The stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed using the second Lyapunov method. The developed controller outperforms the existing ones, because it has a higher degree of fine-tuning to cope with the uncertainty. Numerical simulations are employed to confirm the efficiency of the developed controller.     

“田园一号”微推进系统设计与性能测试

针对“田园一号”微纳星编队飞行任务的技术需求，开展了微推进系统的总体设计。常规冷气推进由于其比冲低、贮存压力高、结构复杂，难以满足微纳卫星需求。选择R134a作为推进工质，通过将推进剂液化，减小系统体积。基于3D打印技术，设计贮箱、稳压罐、管路一体的推进系统。采用MEMS加工工艺，设计并研制出电加热喷口，从而提高系统比冲。分析了不同喷口尺寸、供气压力以及温度下所产生的推力和比冲大小，确定出喷口设计。表征测试所研制的电加热喷口，结果表明喷口加工误差控制在2%以内。真空条件下，采用扭摆测量系统测试推力器推进性能，测试结果表明，当稳压罐内气体压力在0.1～0.2 MPa变化时，推力大小为5～10 mN。当喷气温度从25℃升至95℃时，推进系统比冲可提升10%以上。