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It is a new design concept to employ control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) as reactionless actuators for space robots. Such actuation has several noticeable advantages such as weak dynamical coupling and low power consumption over traditional joint motor actuation. This paper presents a robust control law for a CMG-actuated space robot in presence of system uncertainties and closed-chain constraints. The control objective is to make the manipulation variables to track the desired trajectories, and reduce the possibility of CMG saturation simultaneously. A reduced-order dynamical equation in terms of independent motion variables is derived using Kane's equations. Desired trajectories of the independent motion variables are derived by minimum-norm trajectory planning algorithm, and an adaptive sliding mode controller with improved adaptation laws is proposed to drive the independent motion variables tracking the desired trajectories. Uniformly ultimate boundedness of the closed loop system is proven using Lyapunov method. The redundancy of the full-order actual control torques is utilized to generate a null torque vector which reduces the possibility of CMG angular momentum saturation while producing no effect on the reduced-order control input. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms and the advantage of weak dynamical coupling of the CMG-actuated system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In launching Multi-Satellite with One-Vehicle, the main thruster provided by the upper stage is mounted on a two-axis gimbal. During orbit transfer, the thrust vector of this gimbaled thruster (GT) should theoretically pass through the mass center of the upper stage and align with the command direction to provide orbit transfer impetus. However, it is hard to be implemented from the viewpoint of the engineering mission. The deviations of the thrust vector from the command direction would result in large velocity errors. Moreover, the deviations of the thrust vector from the upper stage mass center would produce large disturbance torques. This paper discusses the thrust vector control (TVC) of the upper stage during its orbit transfer. Firstly, the accurate nonlinear coupled kinematic and dynamic equations of the upper stage body, the two-axis gimbal and the GT are derived by taking the upper stage as a multi-body system. Then, a thrust vector control system consisting of the special attitude control of the upper stage and the gimbal rotation of the gimbaled thruster is proposed. The special attitude control defined by the desired attitude that draws the thrust vector to align with the command direction when the gimbal control makes the thrust vector passes through the upper stage mass center. Finally, the validity of the proposed method is verified through numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a new and effective approach for vibration suppression of large space structures. Collocated pairs of control moment gyroscope (CMG) and angular rate sensor are adopted as actuators/sensors. The equations of motion of a flexible structure with a set of arbitrarily distributed CMGs are developed. The detailed dynamics of the CMGs and their interactions between the flexibilities of the structure are incorporated in the formulation. Then, the equations of motion are linearized to describe the small-scale motion of the system. The optimal placement problem of the actuators/sensors on the flexible structures is solved from the perspective of system controllability and observability. The controller for the vibration suppression is synthesized using the angular rates of the locations where the CMGs are mounted and the gimbal angles of the CMGs. The stability of the controller is proved by the Lyapunov theorem. Numerical examples of a beam structure and a plate structure validate the efficacy of the proposed method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on the nonlinear controllability theory, this paper analyzes the attitude controllability for an underactuated spacecraft using two or one thrusters in sequence. In order to provide a preconditional guide on designing the control law for the underactuated attitude control system in the actual case, the underactuated spacecraft with respect to the orbit frame is investigated in the presence of periodical oscillation disturbance. First, attitude dynamic model was established for an underactuated spacecraft actuated by three thrusters, one or two of which has failed separately, and the special orthogonal group (SO(3)) is deployed to describe the attitude motions. Second, Liouville theorem and Poincaré’s recurrence theorem were used to confirm that the drift field is Weakly Positively Poisson Stable (WPPS). Furthermore, the sufficient and necessary condition of controllability was obtained on the basis of Lie Algebra Rank Condition (LARC). Finally, according to the case of two available thrusters, angular velocity stabilization and three-axis attitude stabilization control laws are designed, and proved by Lyapunov stability theory and LaSalle invariant theorem. The analysis and simulation results illustrate the feasibility of the proposed control law. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a new formulation for automatic generation of the motion equations of arbitrary multibody systems. The method is applicable to systems with rigid and flexible bodies. The number of degrees of freedom (DOF) of the bodies'' interconnection joints is allowed to vary from 0 to 6. It permits the system to have tree topology or closed structural loops. The formulation is based on Kane''s method. Each rigid or flexible body''s contribution to the system generalized inertia force is expressed in a similar manner; therefore, it makes the formulation quite amenable to computer solution. All the recursive kinematic relations are developed, and efficient motion variables describing the elastic motion and the hinge motion are adopted to improve modeling efficiency. Motion constraints are handled by the new form of Kane''s equation. The final mathematical model has the same dimension with the generalized speeds of the system and involves no Lagrange multipliers, so it is useful for control system design. A sample example is given to interpret several concepts it involves, while the numerical simulations are shown to validate the algorithm''s accuracy and efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]