Finite-Time Attitude Optimization Maneuver Control for Coupled Spacecraft Under Attitude Measurement Errors and Actuator Faults

The large-angle attitude maneuver trajectory design and tracking control for flexible spacecraft with slosh structure under attitude measurement errors and actuator faults are investigated in this article. Considering that rapid attitude maneuvers can lead to severe flexible vibrations and liquid sloshing, which in turn affects system stability. Therefore, under the requirement of fast maneuvering, the attitude trajectory is optimized to maximize the system’s stability by establishing a new indicator function, while satisfying multiple physical constraints. Furthermore, the novel adaptive multivariable command filtering backstepping fault-tolerant controller is proposed for the coupled spacecraft, to achieve the finite-time attitude tracking to the optimized trajectory, despite the measurement errors and actuator faults. The merits lie in the modified auxiliary signals and virtual commands design, which can compensate the filter errors, caused by the applied filters to deal with the “explosion of terms” of conventional backstepping control, in finite time with better control performance. The numerical simulations are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

I. Introduction

Over the past few years, the spacecrafts with huge, light damping structures (e.g., the solar paddles and antenna reflectors) and large quantities of liquid fuel have been mainstream to provide sufficient power supply and complete increasingly complex space missions. The coupled interactions among flexible, slosh dynamics, and rigid system are considerable challenges in the space industry [1]. During the large-angle attitude maneuver, the flexible vibration and sloshing liquid exert sever forces and moments which would affect the spacecrafts system’s stability. Considering the practical considerations, the attitude maneuver control for coupled spacecraft is investigated in this article.