Robust Finite-Time Control for Flexible Spacecraft Attitude Maneuver

The robust finite-time control for a flexible spacecraft attitude maneuver in the absence and presence of inertia uncertainties and external disturbances is investigated in this paper. The finite-time controllers, based on the Lagrange-like model and nonsingular terminal sliding mode technique, which guarantee the convergence of attitude maneuver errors in finite time rather than in the asymptotic sense, are proposed to perform an attitude maneuver. By constructing a particular Lyapunov function, the convergences of the proposed controllers for the closed-loop systems are proven theoretically. The robustness problem associated with inertia uncertainties and bounded disturbances is addressed. Numerical simulations are finally provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed controller by comparing it with the conventional sliding mode control. The finite-time controller demonstrates superior performance, such as fast convergence performance, ideal robustness, and effectiveness in suppressing vibration.