Optimal Control of a Tethered Subsatellite of Three Degrees of Freedom

The paper presents the optimal control of the deployment and retrieval processes of a tethered subsatellite system of three degrees of freedom, which takes not only the in-plane motion, but also the out-of-plane motions, into account. After the statement of the optimal control problem of the tethered subsatellite system based on the dynamic equation of the system, with the control cost and the state constraints included, the paper introduces the quasilinearization and the truncated Chebyshev series to approximate the state variables of the system such that the original problem of constrained nonlinear optimal control is simplified into a set of linear quadratic programming problems which can be easily solved. The case studies in the paper not only support the new method, but also show that the controlled trajectories of the deployment process and the retrieval process are geometrically symmetric to each other with respect to the local vertical axis, and that the subsatellite always undergoes a slow, damped oscillation when it is in the beginning of a deployment process or at the end of a retrieval process.     

三维电动力绳系子卫星轨道转移的最优控制

考虑复杂状态和控制约束的作用,研究了倾斜轨道上三维电动力绳系子卫星轨道转移的最优控制问题.借助Gauss伪谱算法,将绳系子卫星轨道转移的连续时间最优控制问题离散为大规模动态规划问题,并利用非线性规划方法进行求解.通过数值仿真计算了最优控制时间、子星最优转移轨道及最优控制张力和电流,同时讨论了轨道倾角对最优控制量的影响....     

飞行时间不受约束的绳系卫星最优控制

研究了飞行时间不受约束的绳系卫星释放和回收过程的非线性最优控制问题.基于Chebyshev级数展开将高阶系统的状态约束和控制约束拟线性化,使问题转化成典型的线性二次规划问题,通过数值模拟验证了该方法的有效性,获得了绳系卫星轨道和控制力的时间最优历程.     

倾斜轨道电动力绳系卫星回收控制

考虑电动力影响,建立了倾斜轨道绳系卫星系统的动力学模型,研究了子星回收过程的非线性最优控制. 应用Legendre伪谱算法,将连续时间最优控制问题离散化,进而利用非线性规划方法进行求解,通过数值模拟验证了方法的有效性. 结果表明,在满足相关约束的条件下,通过调节系绳张力和电动力,可将子星回收到靠近主星的指定位置.      

Nonlinear resonance of a subsatellite on a short constant tether

The nonlinear resonant behavior of a subsatellite on a short constant tether during station-keeping phase is investigated in this paper. The nonlinear dynamic equations of in-plane motion of the system are derived based on Kane’s method first. Then an approach of multiple scales expressed in matrix form is employed in solving the simplified nonlinear system of cubic nonlinearity near its local equilibrium position. Analysis shows that there exists a three-to-one resonance in such a nonlinear system with two degrees of freedom. Afterward, the approximate solution up to third order determined analytically by the Weierstrass elliptic function is obtained and the comparison between the approximate and numerical solutions presented as well. The results show that the approximate solution is coincide well with the numerical solution of original system. The nonlinear resonance of the subsatellite on short tether exhibits coexistent quasiperiodic motions or a quasiperiodic oscillation near local equilibrium position.     

On the dynamics of a tethered satellite system

The Hamiltonian structure for a fundamental model of a tethered satellite system is constructed. The model is composed of two point masses connected by a string with no restrictions on the motions of the two masses. A certain symmetry with respect to the special orthogonal group SO(3) for such a system is observed. The classical station-keeping mode for the tethered system is found to be nothing more than the relative equilibrium corresponding to the reduction of the system by the symmetry. The microgravity forces on the two point masses are responsible for the possible configurations of the string at the so-called radial relative equilibrium. A stability analysis is performed on the basis of the reduced energy-momentum method. Criteria for stability are derived, which could find potential applications in space technology.     

基于微分包含的绳系卫星时间最优释放控制

考虑系绳弹性的影响,建立了绳系卫星系统三维动力学模型,研究了在状态和控制约束下的绳系卫星非线性时间最优控制问题. 为缩减系统变量,控制律设计没有采用通常的状态空间模型,而是基于二阶微分包含,将连续时间最优控制问题离散为大规模动态规化问题,最后通过数值模拟验证了该方法的有效性.      

Optimal feedback control of the deployment of a tethered subsatellite subject to perturbations

This paper presents the nonlinear optimal feedback control for the deployment process of a tethered subsatellite model, which involves not only the usually addressed in-plane motion, but also the out-of-plane motion. The model also takes the uncertainties in the mass parameter, the perturbations in initial states, and the external disturbance forces into consideration from an engineering point of view. The proposed controller is on the basis of a shrinking horizon and online grid adaptation scheme. Even though the proposed feedback law is not analytically explicit, it is easy to determine it by using a rapid recomputation of the open-loop optimal control, which generates the initial guesses for controls by interpolating the results from the previous computation. The case studies in the paper well demonstrate the effectiveness, robustness, and dominant real-time merits of the proposed controller.     

Stability and control of tethered satellite with chemical propulsion in orbital plane

The tethered satellite with chemical propulsion has broad application prospects in the disposal of abandoned satellites, the orbital rescue of spacecrafts, and the transportation of space supplies, which is completely different from the traditional applications of tethered satellites. Therefore, new research on its dynamics, stability, and control becomes useful and interesting. In this article, based on a dumbbell model of tethered satellite, the dynamics equations of tethered system in orbital maneuvering are established. Furthermore, according to the definitions of transversal and radial propulsive coefficients, analytical solutions of the equilibrium position for librational angle are derived during maneuvering in orbital plane; meanwhile, the effects of propulsive coefficients on librational stability are analyzed, which provides a basis for a selection of expected attitude trajectory. Then, a method of hierarchical sliding-mode tension control is presented to track the expected in-plane angle. This method can address the underactuated problem of tethered systems without either complex coordinate transformation for the system state model or constraint equation restrictions. During orbital flight, in-plane and out-of-plane angles are decoupled, so the tether tension control cannot be conducted to inhibit the out-of-plane angle. To solve this problem, the binormal component of thrust acceleration normal to the orbital plane is adopted as a control variable, and a feedback linearization-based thrust controller is designed to damp out the out-of-plane angle. Afterwards, orbital transfer cases between two circular orbits are studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the tethered satellite with chemical propulsion. Numerical simulation results indicate that the stability of librational angles has a close relation to propulsive coefficients, and distributions of stable centers and unstable saddle points are totally different on both sides of bifurcation point. In addition, tracking control requirements for tethered satellite are guaranteed by designed controllers, which ensure flight safety in orbital maneuvering.     

An analytical control law of length rate for tethered satellite system

Based on the nonlinear dynamic equations of a tethered satellite system with three-dimensional attitude motion, an analytical tether length rate control law for deployment is derived from the equilibrium positions of the system and the scheme of the value range of the expected in-plane pitch angle. The proposed control law can guarantee that the tensional force acting on the end of the tether remains positive. The oscillation of the out-of-plane roll motion in conjunction with the in-plane pitch motion is effectively suppressed during deployment control. The analytical control law is still applicable, even if the system runs on a Keplerian elliptical orbit with a large eccentricity. The local stability of the non-autonomous system during deployment control is analyzed using the Floquet theory, and the global behavior is numerically verified using simple cell mapping. The numerical simulations in the paper demonstrate the proposed analytical control law.     

Nonlinear dynamics of flexible tethered satellite system subject to space environment

The paper studies the nonlinear dynamics of a flexible tethered satellite system subject to space environments, such as the J ₂ perturbation, the air drag force, the solar pressure, the heating effect, and the orbital eccentricity. The flexible tether is modeled as a series of lumped masses and viscoelastic dampers so that a finite multidegree-of-freedom nonlinear system is obtained. The stability of equilibrium positions of the nonlinear system is then analyzed via a simplified two-degree-freedom model in an orbital reference frame. In-plane motions of the tethered satellite system are studied numerically, taking the space environments into account. A large number of numerical simulations show that the flexible tethered satellite system displays nonlinear dynamic characteristics, such as bifurcations, quasi-periodic oscillations, and chaotic motions.     

Optimal control of the deployment (and retrieval) of a tethered satellite under small initial disturbances

The deployment and retrieval processes of satellites from a space station are demanding tasks during the operations of tethered satellite systems. The satellite should be steered into its working state within a reasonable amount of time and without too much control efforts. For the pure in-plane oscillation we have found time-optimal solutions with bang–bang control strategy for the deployment and retrieval process. In our working group we have also investigated different stabilization methods of the vertical equilibrium configuration, for example parametric swing control and chaotic control. In this article we concentrate on the final stage of the operation, when the oscillations around the vertical configuration should be brought to halt. While this task is quite simple for a motion of the satellite in the orbital plane, it is considerably more difficult, if the satellite has been perturbed out of that plane. We first analyze the control for a purely out-of-plane oscillation, which is governed by a Hamiltonian Hopf bifurcation, and then investigate the combined control for the spatial dynamics. Using a center manifold ansatz for the in-plane oscillations, we can show, that it is possible to diminish the oscillations of the tethered satellite in both directions, but the decay is extremely slow.     

Deployment/retrieval optimization for flexible tethered satellite systems

A methodology for deployment/retrieval optimization of tethered satellite systems is presented. Previous research has focused on the case where the tether is modeled as an inelastic, straight rod for the determination of optimal system trajectories. However, the tether shape and string vibrations can often be very important, particularly when the deployment/retrieval speed changes rapidly, or when external forces such as aerodynamic drag or electrodynamic forces are present. An efficient mathematical model for flexible tethered systems is first derived, which treats the tether as composed of a system of lumped masses connected via inelastic links. A tension control law is presented based on a discretization of the tether length dynamics via Chebyshev polynomials. A scheme that minimizes the second derivative of length over the trajectory based on physically meaningful coefficients is presented. This is utilized in conjunction with evolutionary optimization methods to minimize the rigid body and flexible modes of the system during deployment/retrieval. It is shown that only a very small number of parameters are required to generate accurate trajectories. The results are compared to the case where the tether is modeled as a straight rod.     

Deployment of tensegrity structures

In this paper we present a strategy for tensegrity structures deployment. The main idea is to use a certain set of equilibria to which the undeployed and deployed configurations belong. In the state space this set is represented by an equilibrium manifold. The deployment is conducted such that the deployment trajectory is close to this equilibrium manifold.     

Dynamic collision avoidance and constraint violation compensation

This paper uses concepts in multibody dynamics, together with a collision detection algorithm to study the dynamics of collision avoidance. Obstacle avoidance of a mechanical system in motion is expressed in terms of distances, relative velocities and relative accelerations between potentially colliding bodies. The generalized control forces (constraint forces) used to adjust the system dynamics are based on an n-timestep collision avoidance algorithm. Constraint violations resulting from sudden changes in motion direction are compensated for by feeding back the errors of position and velocity constraints to assure asymptotic stability. The procedures developed are illustrated through a maneuver in space of a robotic manipulator used for grasp and deployment.     

Deployment of an orbital tethered system with an aerodynamic stabilizer

The control of an orbital tethered system (OTS) with an aerodynamic stabilizer (AS) is considered. The aerodynamic stabilizer is a light body of spherical shape with a relatively large ballistic coefficient. The system is deployed with the use of aerodynamic forces and with controlled braking by a special mechanism located on the main spacecraft (SC). A mathematical model describing the deployment and furthermotion of the OTS is constructed. The dynamic and kinematic control laws for the OTS deployment with and without feedback are analyzed. The influence of various disturbances on the stability of OTS deployment processes is estimated. An example where an aerodynamic stabilizer is used to ensure spacecraft descent from a low-earth orbit is given.     

系留无人机系统振动特性分析

为了对系留无人机系统的振动特性进行分析,本文将无人机的运动作为系留缆绳的边界条件,得到了系留无人机系统的面内运动方程。通过平衡分析得到了系留缆绳在风场中的平衡张力和平衡曲率的近似表达式,然后对系留无人机系统的运动方程进行线性化处理,最终求得了系留缆绳法向的频率方程和振型。在此基础上,数值分析了无人机驱动力和无人机倾角对系留缆绳振动固有特性的影响。研究表明:随着无人机驱动力的变化,系留缆绳法向运动的不同阶固有频率之间会出现频率转向现象;随着无人机倾角的增加,系留缆绳的频率转向现象易于发生,且频率转向会影响系留缆绳的振型。研究结果可为系留无人机系统的设计提供理论参考。     

Equilibrium configurations of the tethered three-body formation system and their nonlinear dynamics

This paper considers nonlinear dynamics of tethered three-body formation system with their centre of mass staying on a circular orbit around the Earth, and applies the theory of space manifold dynamics to deal with the nonlinear dynamical behaviors of the equilibrium configurations of the system. Compared with the classical circular restricted three body system, sixteen equilibrium configurations are obtained globally from the geometry of pseudo-potential energy surface, four of which were omitted in the previous research. The periodic Lyapunov orbits and their invariant manifolds near the hyperbolic equilibria are presented, and an iteration procedure for identifying Lyapunov orbit is proposed based on the differential correction algorithm. The non-transversal intersections between invariant manifolds are addressed to generate homoclinic and heteroclinic trajectories between the Lyapunov orbits. (3,3)and (2,1)-heteroclinic trajectories from the neighborhood of one collinear equilibrium to that of another one, and (3,6)and (2,1)-homoclinic trajectories from and to the neighborhood of the same equilibrium, are obtained based on the Poincaré mapping technique.     

Dynamic analysis of a tethered satellite system for space debris capture

Herein we analyze the dynamic behavior of a tethered satellite system for space debris capture, considering the large deformation of a tether. The tethered satellite system is modeled as two point masses and a string, and the equations of motion of the tethered satellite system are derived by using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation. To calculate the net velocity after debris capture, equations are established describing the momentum exchange between the net and the space debris. By using this model, the dynamic responses of the tethered satellite system after debris capture are calculated for the variations of the capture angles and capture velocities of the debris. This allows analysis of the orbital response of the tethered satellite system and the large tensions arising from tether tumbling. Finally, we analyze the effects of varying system parameters of the tethered satellite system and the space debris upon the dynamic responses.     

On periodic motions of an orbital dumbbell-shaped body with a cabin-elevator

The motion of a dumbbell-shaped body (a pair of massive points connected with each other by a weightless rod along which the elevator, i.e., a third point, is moving according to a given law) in an attractive Newtonian central field is considered. In particular, such a mechanical system can be considered as a simplified model of an orbital cable system equipped with an elevator. The practically most interesting case where the cabin performs periodic ??shuttle??motions is studied. Under the assumption that the elevator mass is small compared with the dumbbell mass, the Poincaré theory is used to determine the conditions for the existence of families of system periodic motions analytically depending on the arising small parameter and passing into some stable radial steady-state motion of the unperturbed problem as the small parameter tends to zero. It is also proved that, for sufficiently small parameter values, each of the radial relative equilibria generates exactly one family of such periodic motions. The stability of the obtained periodic solutions is studied in the linear approximation, and these solutions themselves are calculated up to terms of the firstorder in the small parameter. The contemporary studies of the motion of orbital dumbbell systems apparently originated in Okunev??s papers [1, 2]. These studies were continued in [3], where plane motions of an orbit tether (represented as a dumbbell-shaped satellite) in a circular orbit were considered in the satellite approximation. In [4], in the case of equal masses and in the unbounded statement, the energy-momentum method was used to perform the dynamic reduction of the problem and analyze the stability of relative equilibria. A similar technique was used in [5], where, in contrast to the above-mentioned problems, the massive points were connected by an elastic spring resisting to compression and forming a dumbbell with elastic properties. Under such assumptions, the stability of radial configurations was investigated in that paper. The bifurcations and stability of steady-state configurations of a deformable elastic dumbbell were also studied in [6]. Various obstacles arising in the construction of orbital cable systems, in particular, the strong deformability of known materials, were discussed in [7]. In [8], the problem of orbital motion of a pair of massive points connected by an inextensible weightless cable was considered in the exact statement. In other words, it was assumed that a unilateral constraint is imposed on themassive points. The conditions of stability of vertical positions of the relative equilibria of the cable system, which were obtained in [8], can be used for any ratio of the subsatellite and station masses. In turn, these results agree well with the results obtained earlier in the studies of stability of vertical configurations in the case of equal masses of the system end bodies [3, 4]. One of the basic papers in the dynamics of three-body orbital cable systems is the paper [9]. The steady-state motions and their bifurcations and stability were studied depending on the elevator cabin position in [10].