Boundary control in the attitude maneuvering of tethered space solar power satellite

A composite control approach is proposed for vibration suppression of tethered space solar power satellite (SSPS) during large-angle slewing maneuver by combining main attitude control and active vibration control based on boundary optimal method. The mathematical description for the slewing motion of tethered SSPS is presented. Lyapunov method is applied in the design of the main controller, which is able not only to implement attitude maneuvering of tethered satellite but also suppress the relatively large amplitude vibration of the flexible solar panel by changing the control torque acting on the root of the solar panel. Taking the unilateral and saturated nonlinearity of the flexible tether into account, the boundary optimal controller, acting on the corners of flexible solar panels, is designed by substituting the conventional quadratic performance function with nonquadratic performance function and is desired, as a compensate control system, for the further vibration suppression. In the design process, the stability of the vibration control system and the optimality of the controller are proved. Simulation results demonstrate the proposed control strategy can significantly reduce the vibration of the flexible solar panel during and after the maneuver operation.