PERSISTENT MOTION AND CHAOS IN ATTITUDE CONTROL WITH SWITCHING ACTUATORS

Abstract In systems with switching actuators persistent motions of different nature may occur, such as limit cycles, quasi-periodic and chaotic motions. In this contribution the nature of persistent motions in an attitude control system with switching actuators subject to switching restrictions are examined as a function of controller parameters. Bifurcation diagrams are used to describe observations. In the light of the bifurcation diagrams, control issues and earlier results obtained with the describing function method are assessed from a more general perspective.