Sliding-Mode-Based Attitude Tracking Control of Spacecraft Under Reaction Wheel Uncertainties

The attitude tracking operations of an on-orbit spacecraft with degraded performance exhibited by potential actuator uncertainties(including failures and misalignments) can be extraordinarily challenging. Thus, the control law development for the attitude tracking task of spacecraft subject to actuator(namely reaction wheel) uncertainties is addressed in this paper. More specially, the attitude dynamics model of the spacecraft is firstly established under actuator failures and misalignment(without a small angle approximation operation). Then, a new non-singular sliding manifold with fixed time convergence and anti-unwinding properties is proposed, and an adaptive sliding mode control(SMC) strategy is introduced to handle actuator uncertainties, model uncertainties and external disturbances simultaneously. Among this, an explicit misalignment angles range that could be treated herein is offered. Lyapunov-based stability analyses are employed to verify that the reaching phase of the sliding manifold is completed in finite time, and the attitude tracking errors are ensured to converge to a small region of the closest equilibrium point in fixed time once the sliding manifold enters the reaching phase. Finally, the beneficial features of the designed controller are manifested via detailed numerical simulation tests.

Reinforcement⁃Learning⁃Based Appointed⁃Time Prescribed Performance Attitude Control for Rigid Spacecraft

This paper addresses a geometric control algorithm for the attitude tracking problem of the rigid spacecraft modeled on SO(3).Considering the topological and geometric properties of SO(3),we introduced a smooth positive attitude error function to convert the attitude tracking issue on SO(3)into the stabilization counterpart on its Lie algebra.The error transformation technique was further utilized to ensure the assigned transient and steady state performance of the attitude tracking error with the aid of a well⁃designed assigned⁃time performance function.Then,using the actor⁃critic(AC)neural architecture,an adaptive reinforcement learning approximator was constructed,in which the actor neural network(NN)was utilized to approximate the unknown nonlinearity online.A critic function was introduced to tune the next phase of the actor neural network operation for performance improvement via supervising the system performance.A rigorous stability analysis was presented to show that the assigned system performance can be achieved.Finally,the effectiveness and feasibility of the constructed control strategy was verified by the numerical simulation.

Adaptive Spacecraft Attitude Tracking Controller Design Based on Similar Skew-symmetric Structure

This article presents an adaptive attitude tracking controller with external disturbances and unknown inertia parameters. The similar skew-symmetric structure is extended from the autonomous case to the non-autonomous case. The non-autonomous similar skew-symmetric is chosen as the desired structure of the closed loop system for attitude controller design. Based on this structure, a novel adaptive backstepping scheme is proposed to design the attitude controller by taking full advantage of the symmetry and the positive definiteness of the inertia matrix. The attitude tracking precision is enhanced by employing the linear parameterized form of the external disturbance torques. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed attitude controller.

Fully-Actuated System Approach Based Optimal Attitude Tracking Control of Rigid Spacecraft with Actuator Saturation

In this paper,a fully-actuated system approach(FASA)based control method is proposed for rigid spacecraft attitude tracking with actuator saturation.First,a second-order fully-actuated form of spacecraft attitude error model is established by modified Rodrigues parameters(MRPs).The unknown total disturbance caused by inertial uncertainty and external disturbance is estimated by using extended state observer,then an FASA based controller is developed.Further,a control parameterization method is adopted to optimize the parameter matrices of FASA based controller with the actuator saturation.Finally,a numerical example is carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

New high-accuracy spacecraft VLBI tracking using high data-rate signal:A demonstration with Chang'E-3

As the scientific data volume in deep-space exploration rapidly grows,spacecraft heavily relies on high data-rate signals that span several megahertz to transmit data back to Earth.Employing high data-rate signals for high-accuracy radiometric interferometry can simultaneously deal with data transmission and spacecraft navigation.We demonstrate very long baseline interferometry(VLBI)tracking of the Chang’E-3 lander and rover to determine their relative lunar-surface position using downlink high data-rate signals.A new method based on the VLBI phase-referencing technique is proposed to obtain the differential phase delay,which is much more accurate than the differential group delay acquired by conventional VLBI approaches.The systemic errors among different signal channels have been well calibrated using the new method.The data from the Chang’E-3mission were then processed,and meter-level accuracy positions of the rover with respect to the lander have been obtained.This demonstration shows the feasibility of high-accuracy radiometric interferometry using high data-rate signals.The method proposed in this paper can also be applied to future deep-space navigation.

A Direct Parametric Approach to Spacecraft Attitude Tracking Control

Through the direct parameter approach, a solution for spacecraft attitude tracking is presented. First of all, the spacecraft attitude tracking control model is built up by the error equation of the second-order nonlinear quaternion-based attitude system. Based on the control model, a suitable controller is designed by the direct parameter approach. Compared with other control strategies, the direct parameter approach can offer all degrees of freedom for the controller to satisfy the requirements for system properties and turn the original nonlinear system into closed-loop linear system. Furthermore, this paper optimizes the controller according to the robustness, limitation of controller output and closed-loop eigenvalue sensitivity. Putting the controller into the original system, the state response of the closed-loop system and the output of controller are plotted in Matlab to verify the availability and robustness of the controller. Therefore, the controlled spacecraft can achieve the goal of tracking on the mobile target with the external disturbance torque.

Composite anti-disturbance position and attitude control for spacecrafts with parametric uncertainty and flexible vibration

The rendezvous and proximity operations with respect to a tumbling non-cooperative target pose high requirement for the position and attitude control accuracy of servicing spacecraft.However,multiple disturbances including parametric uncertainties,flexible vibration,and unknown nonlinear dynamics degrade the control performance significantly.In order to enhance the system anti-disturbance ability,this paper proposes a composite anti-disturbance control law for the spacecraft position and attitude tracking.Firstly,the relative position and attitude dynamic models with multiple disturbances are established,where the refined descriptions of multiple disturbances are accomplished based on their characteristics.Then,by combining a dual Disturbance ObserverBased Control(DOBC)and a sliding mode control,a composite controller with hierarchical architecture is proposed,where the dual DOBC in the feedforward channel is used to reject the flexible vibration,environment disturbance,and complicated nonlinear dynamics,while the parametric uncertainties are attenuated by the sliding mode control in the feedback channel.Stability analysis is carried out for the closed-loop system by unifying the sliding mode dynamics and observer dynamics.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed controller is verified via numerical simulation and hardware-in-the-loop test.