The optimal control problem of the multibody dynamics of a spacecraft in space, modeled as a central body with one-sided connected deployable solar arrays, is investigated. The dynamical equations of motion of the spa...The optimal control problem of the multibody dynamics of a spacecraft in space, modeled as a central body with one-sided connected deployable solar arrays, is investigated. The dynamical equations of motion of the spacecraft with solar arrays are derived using the multibody dynamics method. The control of the attitude motion of a spacecraft system can be transformed into the motion planning problem of nonholonomic system when the initial angular momentum is zero. These are then used to investigate the motion planning of the spacecraft during solar arrays deployment via particle swarm optimization (PSO) and results are obtained with the optimal control input and the optimal trajectory. The results of numerical simulation show that this approach is effective for the control problem of the attitude of a spacecraft during the deployment process of its solar arrays.展开更多
In this paper a new phase space of hodograph method is adopted to investigate and better understand the two-dimensional angular momentum reversal(H-reversal) trajectories for high performance solar sails within a fixe...In this paper a new phase space of hodograph method is adopted to investigate and better understand the two-dimensional angular momentum reversal(H-reversal) trajectories for high performance solar sails within a fixed cone angle.As the hodograph method and the H-reversal trajectory are not very common,both of them are briefly introduced.The relationship between them are constructed and addressed with a sample trajectory.How the phase space varies according to the sail quality and the fixed sail cone angle is also studied.Through variation of the phase space,the minimum sail lightness number can be obtained by solving a set of algebraic equations instead of a parameter optimization problem.For a given sail lightness number,there are three types of the two-dimensional possible heliocentric motion,including the spiral inward trajectories towards the Sun,the H-reversal trajectories and the directly outward escape trajectories.The boundaries that separate these different groups are easily determined by using the phase space.Finally,the method and procedures to achieve the feasible region of the H-reversal trajectory with required perihelion distance are presented in detail.展开更多
Solar sail is a new type of spacecraft for deep space exploration,which flies by the pressure of sunlight.The attitude of the sail determines its orbit,so altitude control plays an important role in the mission.Howeve...Solar sail is a new type of spacecraft for deep space exploration,which flies by the pressure of sunlight.The attitude of the sail determines its orbit,so altitude control plays an important role in the mission.However,the large flexible structure leads to some difficulty in attitude control.This paper establishes the reduced dynamic model of a flexible solar sail with foreshortening deformation,and coupling with its attitude and vibration.As usual,large angle maneuvering will lead to the vibration of flexible structure,so the time optimal control of solar sail maneuvering is considered.Bang-Bang control of the solar sail generates large amplitude and sustained vibration,while the combined control based on input shaping can eliminate the vibration efficiently.With the comparison of two reduced models,it is demonstrated that the choice of two models depends on the attention to the stretching deformation.展开更多
Solar sail is used to achieve a geocentric sun-synchronous frozen orbit.This kind of orbit combines the characteristics of both sun-synchronous orbits and frozen orbits.Furthermore,the impossible orbits for a typical ...Solar sail is used to achieve a geocentric sun-synchronous frozen orbit.This kind of orbit combines the characteristics of both sun-synchronous orbits and frozen orbits.Furthermore,the impossible orbits for a typical spacecraft such as sun-synchronous orbits whose inclination is less than 90° are also possible for solar sail.To achieve a sun-synchronous frozen orbit,the characteristic acceleration of the sail is chosen properly.In addition,the attitude of the sail is adjusted to keep the sun-synchronous and frozen characteristics.The perturbations including atmosphere drag,third-body gravitational forces and shaded regions are discussed,where the atmosphere drag is cancelled by solar radiation pressure force,third-body gravitational forces have negligible effects on the orbit and the shaded region can be avoided by choosing the classical orbit elements of the sail.At last,a numerical example is employed to validate the sun-synchronous frozen characteristics of the sail.展开更多
Trajectory optimization and simulation is performed for Venus round trip (VeRT) mission using solar sail propulsion. Solar gravity is included but atmospheric drag and shadowing effects are neglected in the planet-cen...Trajectory optimization and simulation is performed for Venus round trip (VeRT) mission using solar sail propulsion. Solar gravity is included but atmospheric drag and shadowing effects are neglected in the planet-centered escape and capture stages. The spacecraft starts from the Geostationary orbit (GEt) at a predetermined time to prepare a good initial condition for the Earth-Venus transfer, although the launch window is not an issue for spacecraft with solar sails. The Earth-Venus phase and the return trip are divided into three segments. Two methods are adopted to maintain the mission trajectory for the VeRT mis- sion and then compared through a numerical simulation. According to the first approach, Planet-centered and heliocentric ma- neuvers are modeled using a set of blended analytical control laws instead of the optimal control techniques. The second pro- cedure is the Direct Attitude Angle Optimization in which the attitude angles of the solar sail are adopted as the optimization variables during the heliocentric transfer. Although neither of the two methods guarantees a globally optimal trajectory, they are more efficient and will produce a near-optimal solution if employed properly. The second method has produced a better result for the minimum-time transfer of the VeRT mission demonstrating the effectiveness of the methods in the preliminary design of the complex optimal interplanetary orbit transfers.展开更多
The orbits of solar sails can be changed by adjusting the sail’s attitude through external control torques.The resulting momentum will be changed,either provided by a typical attitude control subsystem or by a propel...The orbits of solar sails can be changed by adjusting the sail’s attitude through external control torques.The resulting momentum will be changed,either provided by a typical attitude control subsystem or by a propellantless device.This paper investigates the extra momentum input and fuel consumption for a typical attitude control subsystem.The minimum-time transfer trajectories are designed for two rendezvous missions using both indirect and direct methods,generating continuous and discrete attitude histories,respectively.The results show that the momentum variation is almost wholly due to the solar radiation pressure.The feasibility of using tip-mounted microthrusters for attitude control is evaluated.The results show that less than0.1 kg of propellant are required for an interplanetary transfer mission when pulsed plasma thrusters with a specific impulse of700 s and a thrust of 150 mN are mounted at the tip of a 20 m square solar sail.The fuel consumptions of two transfer missions indicate that a tip-mounted pulsed plasma thruster is a viable technique for the attitude control of a solar sail.展开更多
A precise force model is of vital importance for dynamics and control of solar sails. Among various factors, deviations from the ideal flat sails, elastic deformations of the sails, are really important as most solar ...A precise force model is of vital importance for dynamics and control of solar sails. Among various factors, deviations from the ideal flat sails, elastic deformations of the sails, are really important as most solar sails are large flexible membranes. In this study, the deformed sails are modeled as smooth curved surfaces and a general total force model (GTFM) for the deformed sails is proposed. Various simplified versions of this GTFM are also derived for the symmetric deformation cases. Furthermore, differences between the ideal force models and our precise GTFM are investigated. The numerical results demonstrate that both the previous ideal reflected model and flat optical model are not as satisfactory as claimed before, by contrast with the actual dynamics from the GTFM. Thus this work paves the way for sail craft's precise navigation where exact forces are needed.展开更多
Significant propellant mass saving can be obtained with the use of complex multiple intermediate flyby maneuvers for conventional propulsion systems,and trip time also decreases for a portion of the proper solar sail ...Significant propellant mass saving can be obtained with the use of complex multiple intermediate flyby maneuvers for conventional propulsion systems,and trip time also decreases for a portion of the proper solar sail missions.This paper discusses the performance of gravity assist(GA)in the time-optimal control problem of solar sailing with respect to sail lightness number and the energy difference between the initial and final orbit in the rendezvous problem in a two-body model,in which the GA is modeled as a substantial change in the velocity of the sailcraft at the GA time.In addition,this paper presents a method to solve the time-optimal problem of solar sailing with GA in a full ephemeris model,which introduces the third body’s gravity in a dynamic equation.This study builds a set of inner constraints that can describe the GA process accurately.Finally,this study presents an example for evaluating the accuracy and rationality of the two-body model’s simplification of GA by comparison with the full ephemeris model.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11072038)
文摘The optimal control problem of the multibody dynamics of a spacecraft in space, modeled as a central body with one-sided connected deployable solar arrays, is investigated. The dynamical equations of motion of the spacecraft with solar arrays are derived using the multibody dynamics method. The control of the attitude motion of a spacecraft system can be transformed into the motion planning problem of nonholonomic system when the initial angular momentum is zero. These are then used to investigate the motion planning of the spacecraft during solar arrays deployment via particle swarm optimization (PSO) and results are obtained with the optimal control input and the optimal trajectory. The results of numerical simulation show that this approach is effective for the control problem of the attitude of a spacecraft during the deployment process of its solar arrays.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.10902056 and 10832004)
文摘In this paper a new phase space of hodograph method is adopted to investigate and better understand the two-dimensional angular momentum reversal(H-reversal) trajectories for high performance solar sails within a fixed cone angle.As the hodograph method and the H-reversal trajectory are not very common,both of them are briefly introduced.The relationship between them are constructed and addressed with a sample trajectory.How the phase space varies according to the sail quality and the fixed sail cone angle is also studied.Through variation of the phase space,the minimum sail lightness number can be obtained by solving a set of algebraic equations instead of a parameter optimization problem.For a given sail lightness number,there are three types of the two-dimensional possible heliocentric motion,including the spiral inward trajectories towards the Sun,the H-reversal trajectories and the directly outward escape trajectories.The boundaries that separate these different groups are easily determined by using the phase space.Finally,the method and procedures to achieve the feasible region of the H-reversal trajectory with required perihelion distance are presented in detail.
文摘Solar sail is a new type of spacecraft for deep space exploration,which flies by the pressure of sunlight.The attitude of the sail determines its orbit,so altitude control plays an important role in the mission.However,the large flexible structure leads to some difficulty in attitude control.This paper establishes the reduced dynamic model of a flexible solar sail with foreshortening deformation,and coupling with its attitude and vibration.As usual,large angle maneuvering will lead to the vibration of flexible structure,so the time optimal control of solar sail maneuvering is considered.Bang-Bang control of the solar sail generates large amplitude and sustained vibration,while the combined control based on input shaping can eliminate the vibration efficiently.With the comparison of two reduced models,it is demonstrated that the choice of two models depends on the attention to the stretching deformation.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants Nos.10902056 and 10832004)State Key Lab of Astronautical Dynamics of China (Grant No. 2011ADL-DW0201)
文摘Solar sail is used to achieve a geocentric sun-synchronous frozen orbit.This kind of orbit combines the characteristics of both sun-synchronous orbits and frozen orbits.Furthermore,the impossible orbits for a typical spacecraft such as sun-synchronous orbits whose inclination is less than 90° are also possible for solar sail.To achieve a sun-synchronous frozen orbit,the characteristic acceleration of the sail is chosen properly.In addition,the attitude of the sail is adjusted to keep the sun-synchronous and frozen characteristics.The perturbations including atmosphere drag,third-body gravitational forces and shaded regions are discussed,where the atmosphere drag is cancelled by solar radiation pressure force,third-body gravitational forces have negligible effects on the orbit and the shaded region can be avoided by choosing the classical orbit elements of the sail.At last,a numerical example is employed to validate the sun-synchronous frozen characteristics of the sail.
基金supported by the National Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 20110491873)the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Astronautic Dynamics (Grants No. 2011ADL-DW0201)
文摘Trajectory optimization and simulation is performed for Venus round trip (VeRT) mission using solar sail propulsion. Solar gravity is included but atmospheric drag and shadowing effects are neglected in the planet-centered escape and capture stages. The spacecraft starts from the Geostationary orbit (GEt) at a predetermined time to prepare a good initial condition for the Earth-Venus transfer, although the launch window is not an issue for spacecraft with solar sails. The Earth-Venus phase and the return trip are divided into three segments. Two methods are adopted to maintain the mission trajectory for the VeRT mis- sion and then compared through a numerical simulation. According to the first approach, Planet-centered and heliocentric ma- neuvers are modeled using a set of blended analytical control laws instead of the optimal control techniques. The second pro- cedure is the Direct Attitude Angle Optimization in which the attitude angles of the solar sail are adopted as the optimization variables during the heliocentric transfer. Although neither of the two methods guarantees a globally optimal trajectory, they are more efficient and will produce a near-optimal solution if employed properly. The second method has produced a better result for the minimum-time transfer of the VeRT mission demonstrating the effectiveness of the methods in the preliminary design of the complex optimal interplanetary orbit transfers.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11272004)China’s Civil Space Funding
文摘The orbits of solar sails can be changed by adjusting the sail’s attitude through external control torques.The resulting momentum will be changed,either provided by a typical attitude control subsystem or by a propellantless device.This paper investigates the extra momentum input and fuel consumption for a typical attitude control subsystem.The minimum-time transfer trajectories are designed for two rendezvous missions using both indirect and direct methods,generating continuous and discrete attitude histories,respectively.The results show that the momentum variation is almost wholly due to the solar radiation pressure.The feasibility of using tip-mounted microthrusters for attitude control is evaluated.The results show that less than0.1 kg of propellant are required for an interplanetary transfer mission when pulsed plasma thrusters with a specific impulse of700 s and a thrust of 150 mN are mounted at the tip of a 20 m square solar sail.The fuel consumptions of two transfer missions indicate that a tip-mounted pulsed plasma thruster is a viable technique for the attitude control of a solar sail.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10902056 and 10832004)
文摘A precise force model is of vital importance for dynamics and control of solar sails. Among various factors, deviations from the ideal flat sails, elastic deformations of the sails, are really important as most solar sails are large flexible membranes. In this study, the deformed sails are modeled as smooth curved surfaces and a general total force model (GTFM) for the deformed sails is proposed. Various simplified versions of this GTFM are also derived for the symmetric deformation cases. Furthermore, differences between the ideal force models and our precise GTFM are investigated. The numerical results demonstrate that both the previous ideal reflected model and flat optical model are not as satisfactory as claimed before, by contrast with the actual dynamics from the GTFM. Thus this work paves the way for sail craft's precise navigation where exact forces are needed.
文摘Significant propellant mass saving can be obtained with the use of complex multiple intermediate flyby maneuvers for conventional propulsion systems,and trip time also decreases for a portion of the proper solar sail missions.This paper discusses the performance of gravity assist(GA)in the time-optimal control problem of solar sailing with respect to sail lightness number and the energy difference between the initial and final orbit in the rendezvous problem in a two-body model,in which the GA is modeled as a substantial change in the velocity of the sailcraft at the GA time.In addition,this paper presents a method to solve the time-optimal problem of solar sailing with GA in a full ephemeris model,which introduces the third body’s gravity in a dynamic equation.This study builds a set of inner constraints that can describe the GA process accurately.Finally,this study presents an example for evaluating the accuracy and rationality of the two-body model’s simplification of GA by comparison with the full ephemeris model.