Exploring the analogy for adaptive attitude control of a ground-based satellite system

Equations of motion for a special system pertaining to the class of mixed nonholonomic mechanical systems are studied in the modern setting of geometric mechanics. The presented attitude control test bed is intended to provide an experimental facility that, in certain senses, emulates the dynamics of on-orbit conditions in the laboratory site, allowing the evaluation of path planning and feedback control algorithms. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of the approach and proposes a concurrent solution to the attitude tracking control problem that, due to uncertainties of the parameters, is likely to require effective adaptive aptitudes. Moreover, the invariance with respect to Lie group actions of governing dynamics and measurable output readings has allowed the investigation of controllability and observability in an intrinsic manner.