Distributed Optimization Method for Spacecraft Attitude Control and Vibration Suppression

To achieve high-precision attitude control, vibration suppression is required for large spacecraft. The actuators for attitude control and/or vibration suppression can be installed centralized or distributed. In the former case, some vibration suppression methods are based on trajectory planning [1,2], while others are integrated in attitude control law [3]. The capabilities of these methods for vibration suppression are limited due to their open-loop design-based attribution or lack of dedicated actuators for vibration suppression. Hence, attitude control and vibration suppression based on distributed actuators are becoming a research hotspot. Various types of actuator have been scattered across the spacecraft for vibration suppression, including piezoelectric actuators (PZTs) [4,5] and control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) [6–13]. The concept of angular momentum being studied as a distributed parameter was first introduced by D’Eleuterio and Hughes [6,7]. By importing infinitesimal angular momentum devices tothe elastic body, the frequencies, coupled modes, and damping can be controlled. To facilitate engineering application, Hu et al. [10–13] proposed a practical methodology for active vibration suppression and attitude control of flexible structures by CMGs. In Hu’s studies, the angular momentum is discretely distributed in the structure rather than continuously [6,7]. According to the model in [11], Guo et al. proposed a modal force compensator method [14] and a null-motion based method [15] to suppress vibration. Different from the idea of designing the control law and the steering law of actuators together [10–15], Hu et al. [16,17] proposed two control law design methods for attitude control and vibration suppression. The advantage is that the proposed methods can be used for systems with different kinds of actuators.