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Robust attitude control for rapid multi-target tracking in spacecraft formation flying

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Abstract

A robust attitude tracking control scheme for spacecraft formation flying is presented. The leader spacecraft with a rapid mobile antenna and a camera is modeled. While the camera is tracking the ground target, the antenna is tracking the follower spacecraft. By an angular velocity constraint and an angular constraint, two methods are proposed to compute the reference attitude profiles of the camera and antenna, respectively. To simplify the control design problem, this paper first derives the desired inverse system (DIS), which can convert the attitude tracking problem of 3D space into the regulator problem. Based on DIS and sliding mode control (SMC), a robust attitude tracking controller is developed in the presence of mass parameter uncertainties and external disturbance. By Lyapunov stability theory, the closed loop system stability can be achieved. The numerical simulations show that the proposed robust control scheme exhibits significant advantages for the multi-target attitude tracking of a two-spacecraft formation.

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Abbreviations

O I X I Y I Z I :

earth center inertial frame (ECI)

O b X b Y b Z b :

central body fixed frame (BCF)

O a X a Y a Z a :

mobile antenna fixed frame (AUF)

β :

rotation angle of antenna relative to BCF

Ωb :

angular velocity of central body relative to ECI

ω b :

angular velocity of central body relative to ORF

ω a :

angular velocity of mobile antenna relative to BCF

ω w :

angular velocity of reaction wheels relative to BCF

ρ A :

distance between mass center of antenna and O a

ρ D :

distance between mass center of rigid beam and O b

ρ C :

distance between mass center of system and O b

ρ wj :

distance between mass center of reaction wheel and O b

r bd :

vector of a mass element of rigid beam relative to O b

r b :

vector of a mass element of central body relative to O b

r a :

vector of a mass element of antenna relative to O a

O o X o Y o Z o :

orbital reference frame (ORF)

O e X e Y e Z e :

earth center fixed frame (ECF)

O u X u Y u Z u :

rigid beam fixed frame (BUF)

r A :

vector of O a relative to O b

M :

mass of the whole system

m b :

mass of central body

m d :

mass of rigid beam

m a :

mass of mobile antenna

m wj :

mass of reaction wheel

J wj :

moment of inertia of reaction wheel

T b :

control torque of main body

T d :

external disturbance torque

T a :

control torque of mobile antenna

E :

elevation of spacecraft

r:

reference attitude

e:

attitude error

†:

pseudo-inverse of non-square matrix

(I):

expression of vectors in ECI

(O):

expression of vectors in ORF

(b):

expression of vectors in BCF

(a):

expression of vectors in AUF

(E):

expression of vectors in ECF

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Aerospace, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China

    Yuan Chang-qing  (袁长清), Li Jun-feng  (李俊峰), Wang Tian-shu  (王天舒) & Baoyin He-xi  (宝音贺西)

Authors
  1. Yuan Chang-qing  (袁长清)
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  2. Li Jun-feng  (李俊峰)
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  3. Wang Tian-shu  (王天舒)
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  4. Baoyin He-xi  (宝音贺西)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wang Tian-shu  (王天舒).

Additional information

Communicated by CHEN Li-qun

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10672084) and the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (No. 20060003097)

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Yuan, Cq., Li, Jf., Wang, Ts. et al. Robust attitude control for rapid multi-target tracking in spacecraft formation flying. Appl. Math. Mech.-Engl. Ed. 29, 185–198 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-008-0206-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-008-0206-z

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2000 Mathematics Subject Classification

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