Influence of Monitoring Method and Control Complexity on Operator Performance in Manually Controlled Spacecraft Rendezvous and Docking

This study focuses on the influence of the monitoring method and control complexity on the operator performance in manually controlled spacecraft rendezvous and docking （RVD）. Two one-factor experiments were designed on a simulated RVD system. One examined the video guidance and periscope monitoring methods, and the other examined three control complexity levels using one-axis RVD control, two-axis RVD control, and three-axis RVD control. Eighteen male volunteers aged 22-35 participated in the experiments. The results show that the RVD operating time increases with control complexity. Based on the operators＇ findings, the two-axis control is the easiest. The monitoring method has no significant influence on failure rate with the low complexity using one-axis RVD control.

Robust Global Stabilization of Spacecraft Rendezvous System via Gain Scheduling

The problem of robust global stabilization of a spacecraft circular orbit rendezvous system with input saturation and inputadditive uncertainties is studied in this paper. The relative models with saturation nonlinearity are established based on ClohesseyWiltshire equation. Considering the advantages of the recently developed parametric Lyapunov equation-based low gain feedback design method and an existing high gain scheduling technique, a new robust gain scheduling controller is proposed to solve the robust global stabilization problem. To apply the proposed gain scheduling approaches, only a scalar nonlinear equation is required to be solved.Different from the controller design, simulations have been carried out directly on the nonlinear model of the spacecraft rendezvous operation instead of a linearized one. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is shown.

Output Feedback Stabilization of Spacecraft Autonomous Rendezvous Subject to Actuator Saturation

This paper studies the output feedback dynamic gain scheduled control for stabilizing a spacecraft rendezvous system subject to actuator saturation. By using the parametric Lyapunov equation and the gain scheduling technique, a new observer-based output feedback controller is proposed to solve the semi-global stabilization problem for spacecraft rendezvous system with actuator saturation. By scheduling the design parameter online, the convergence rates of the closed-loop system are improved. Numerical simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.

Feasibility analysis of angles-only navigation algorithm with multisensor data fusion for spacecraft noncooperative rendezvous

Relative navigation is crucial for spacecraft noncooperative rendezvous,and angles-only navigation using visible and infrared cameras provides a feasible solution.Herein,an angles-only navigation algorithm with multisensor data fusion is proposed to derive the relative motion states between two noncooperative spacecraft.First,the design model of the proposed algorithm is introduced,including the derivation of the state propagation and measurement equations.Subsequently,models for the sensor and actuator are introduced,and the effects of various factors on the sensors and actuators are considered.The square-root unscented Kalman filter is used to design the angles-only navigation filtering scherne.Additionally,the Clohessy-Wiltshire terminal guidance algorithm is introducedto obtain the theoretical relative motion trajectories during the rendezvous operations of two noncooperative spacecraft.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed angles-only navigation algorithm is verified using a semi-physical simulation platform.The results prove that an optical navigation camera combined with average accelerometers and occasional orbital maneuvers is feasible for spacecraft noncooperative rendezvous using angles-only navigation.