We develop a model predictive control (MPC) design for systems with discrete-time dynamics evolving on smooth manifolds. We show that the properties of conventional MPC for dynamics evolving on R are preserved and we develop a design procedure for achieving similar properties. We also demonstrate that for discrete-time dynamics on manifolds with Euler characteristic not equal to 1, there do not...

In this paper, an optimal PID-like controller is proposed for a spacecraft attitude stabilization problem subject to continuous inequality constraints on the spacecraft angular velocity and control, as well as terminal constraints on the spacecraft attitude and angular velocity. The closed-loop stability is established using the Lyapunov stability theory. The constraint transcription method and...

This paper proposes two kinds of approaches of angular rate sensing for micro-spacecraft with a gyrowheel (GW), which can combine attitude sensing with attitude control into one single device to achieve a compact micro-spacecraft design. In this implementation, during the three-dimensional attitude control torques being produced, two-dimensional spacecraft angular rates can be sensed from the s...

This paper presents an anlysis based on the momentum conservation equations of a redundant free-flying spacecraft/manipulator system, acting in zero-gravity environment. In order to follow a predefined end-effector path, the inverse kinematics at velocity level is considered. The redundancy i solved alternatively in terms of pseudoinverses and null-space components of the manipulator inertia ma...

A novel split field of view star tracker is being developed for the EO-3 GIFTS mission (2004). The camera is designed to be autonomously self-calibrating, and capable of a rapid/reliable solution of the lost-in-space problem as well as recursive attitude estimation. Two efficient Kalman filter algorithms for attitude, camera principal point offset, and focal length estimation are developed. The...

This paper addresses attitude coordination control for spacecraft formation with multiple delays. A distributed angular velocity input law is firstly constructed for attitude synchronization and tracking under multiple communication delays. Introducing virtual auxiliary systems makes it possible to integrate the angular velocity input law with the true true control torque, and asymptotic stabil...

Momentum exchange devices such as reaction wheels and control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) form an important class of torque actuators for spacecraft attitude control. A single gimbal CMG comprises of a rapidly spinning rotor mounted on a gimbal. The orientation of the rotor can be changed by applying torque to the gimbal, and the reaction torque thus generated serves to control the spacecraft atti...