Deployment/retraction of the rotating Hub-Spoke Tethered Formation System

Abstract The Hub-Spoke Tethered Formation System (HS-TFS) is now a hot issue in many space applications, such as multi-point measurements, providing flexible frame for solar sail and other membrane or net structures. To achieve the valuable advantages, such as reduction of fuel consumption, promotion of the formation stability, the HS-TFS is usually in the rotating state. In addition, it is necessary to change the length of the tethers to obtain a variable coverage of the entire plane of the rotating HS-TFS in some applications, that is, the deployment and retraction problems of the rotating HS-TFS. However, the rotating motion will increase the complexity of the deployment and retraction of the rotating HS-TFS. In this paper, the deployment and retraction of a rotating HS-TFS is investigated. Firstly, a mathematical model is derived to describe the dynamics of the rotating HS-TFS. Then, the Gauss pseudospectral method is employed to solve the optimal deployment and retraction problems of the rotating HS-TFS. Finally, numerical simulations for deployment and retraction of the rotating HS-TFS are performed. Numerical simulation results reveal that it is necessary to apply active control on the deployment and retraction phases of the rotating HS-TFS, and after employing the optimal control (Gauss pseudospectral method), the HS-TFS can reach the desired configuration.

[1]  Arun K. Misra,et al.  Dynamics and control of tethered satellite systems , 2008 .

[2]  Wenfu Xu,et al.  Hybrid modeling and analysis method for dynamic coupling of space robots , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[3]  Cheng Li,et al.  Research of capture error and error compensate for space net capture robot , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO).

[4]  Qi Gong,et al.  A pseudospectral method for the optimal control of constrained feedback linearizable systems , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

[5]  Wenfu Xu,et al.  Dynamic analysis of the compounded system formed by dual-arm space robot and the captured target , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO).

[6]  Haiyan Hu,et al.  Space Tether Deployment Control with Explicit Tension Constraint and Saturation Function , 2016 .

[7]  Mattias Gärdsback,et al.  Deployment Control of Spinning Space Webs and Membranes , 2009 .

[8]  Ary Pizarro-Chong,et al.  Dynamics of multi-tethered satellite formations containing a parent body , 2008 .

[9]  Bruce A. Conway,et al.  Discrete approximations to optimal trajectories using direct transcription and nonlinear programming , 1992 .

[10]  Fan Zhang,et al.  Adaptive Postcapture Backstepping Control for Tumbling Tethered Space Robot–Target Combination , 2016 .

[11]  Fan Zhang,et al.  Impact Dynamic Modeling and Adaptive Target Capturing Control for Tethered Space Robots With Uncertainties , 2016, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[12]  William W. Hager,et al.  Convergence of a Gauss Pseudospectral Method for Optimal Control , 2012 .

[13]  Guanghui Sun,et al.  Fractional order tension control for stable and fast tethered satellite retrieval , 2014 .

[14]  Vinod J. Modi,et al.  Three-dimensional dynamics and control of tether-connected N-body systems☆ , 1992 .

[15]  Panfeng Huang,et al.  A coordinated control strategy for rotating motion of the Hub-Spoke Tethered Space Robot Formation System , 2014, The 26th Chinese Control and Decision Conference (2014 CCDC).

[16]  Paul Williams,et al.  Optimal deployment/retrieval of a tethered formation spinning in the orbital plane , 2006 .

[17]  Mehdi Keshmiri,et al.  General formulation for N-body tethered satellite system dynamics , 1996 .

[18]  Panfeng Huang,et al.  Coupling dynamics modelling and optimal coordinated control of tethered space robot , 2015 .

[19]  Fan Zhang,et al.  Dynamics and configuration control of the Maneuvering-Net Space Robot System , 2015 .

[20]  Fan Zhang,et al.  Releasing Dynamics and Stability Control of Maneuverable Tethered Space Net , 2017, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[21]  Haiyan Hu,et al.  Constrained tension control of a tethered space-tug system with only length measurement , 2016 .

[22]  Haiyan Hu,et al.  Tension control of space tether via online quasi-linearization iterations , 2016 .

[23]  Saburo Matunaga,et al.  Formation Deployment Control for Spinning Tethered Formation Flying -Simulations and Ground Experiments- , 2004 .

[24]  William W. Hager,et al.  A unified framework for the numerical solution of optimal control problems using pseudospectral methods , 2010, Autom..

[25]  Guanghui Sun,et al.  Engineering Notes Fractional-Order Tension Control Law for Deployment of Space Tether System , 2014 .

[26]  Arun K. Misra,et al.  Attitude dynamics of three-body tethered systems , 1988 .

[27]  Gamal N. Elnagar,et al.  Pseudospectral Legendre-based optimal computation of nonlinear constrained variational problems , 1998 .

[28]  Li Cheng.  Research of Attitude Dynamics with Time-Varying Inertia for Space Net Capture Robot System , 2008 .

[29]  Jeremy Rea,et al.  Launch Vehicle Trajectory Optimization Using a Legendre Pseudospectral Method , 2003 .

[30]  G. Reddien.  Collocation at Gauss Points as a Discretization in Optimal Control , 1979 .

[31]  Gunnar Tibert,et al.  Deployment Control of Spinning Space Webs , 2009 .

[32]  J. Frédéric Bonnans,et al.  Computation of order conditions for symplectic partitioned Runge-Kutta schemes with application to optimal control , 2006, Numerische Mathematik.

[33]  Panfeng Huang,et al.  Coordinated stabilization of tumbling targets using tethered space manipulators , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[34]  Anil V. Rao,et al.  Algorithm 902: GPOPS, A MATLAB software for solving multiple-phase optimal control problems using the gauss pseudospectral method , 2010, TOMS.

[35]  William W. Hager,et al.  Pseudospectral methods for solving infinite-horizon optimal control problems , 2011, Autom..

[36]  Saburo Matunaga,et al.  On Attitude Maneuver of Spinning Tethered Formation Flying Based on Virtual Structure Method , 2005 .

[37]  Arun K. Misra.  Equilibrium configurations of tethered three-body systems and their stability , 2002 .

[38]  Panfeng Huang,et al.  Adaptive control for space debris removal with uncertain kinematics, dynamics and states , 2016 .

[39]  Panfeng Huang,et al.  Dynamic modelling and coordinated controller designing for the manoeuvrable tether-net space robot system , 2016 .