Synchronized Rotation of Multiple Autonomous Spacecraft with Rule-Based Controls: Experimental Study

An experimental study is made on the synchronized continuous-rotation of multiple air-levitated autonomous model spacecraft about a Ž xed axis bymeans of simple rule-based controls. These controls differ from the conventional ones, which require processing of numerical sensor data. The controls depend solely on the occurrence and timing of certain discrete event sequences. Thus, the controlled model spacecraft is a hybrid continuous-time and discrete-event system. Experimental results show that the proposed rule-based controls are effective in achieving rotational motion with synchronized angular velocity and phase. A description of the experimental setup and a brief discussion of the design of the air-levitatedmodel spacecraft is given. Then, the details on the development of rule-based controls and the derivation of a dynamicmodel for the resulting hybrid system are presented followed by the presentation and interpretation of the experimental results.