A comparison of a predictive fuzzy control with an optimal control for automatic spacecraft rendezvous.

In this paper, a study is described that compares the performance of a predictive fuzzy control law with that of an optimal feedback control law. The predictive fuzzy control scheme is a method which predicts the result and selects the most likely control rule based on a human's control strategy. Two mathods are applied to automatic rendezvous maneuvers to bring a spacecraft toward a target vehicle (typically a space station). It is shown that the predictive fuzzy controller can provide better performance compared with the optimal regulator, in the sense that it can assure collision avoidance in case of RCS jet failure.