Scribd
Upload
74 views

Spacecraft Attitude Control

1) The document discusses concepts related to spacecraft attitude control including attitude definitions using Euler angles and quaternions, attitude determination using magnetometers and sun sensors, equations of motion, and attitude control using a bang-bang control law. 2) Quaternions represent spacecraft orientation and allow transformation between reference frames without trigonometric functions. Magnetometers and sun sensors provide measurements to determine spacecraft attitude. 3) A bang-bang control law induces angular acceleration by firing thrusters to change the spacecraft's pitch attitude, but does not guarantee achieving the desired attitude change.

Uploaded by

a320neo
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
74 views

Spacecraft Attitude Control

1) The document discusses concepts related to spacecraft attitude control including attitude definitions using Euler angles and quaternions, attitude determination using magnetometers and sun sensors, equations of motion, and attitude control using a bang-bang control law. 2) Quaternions represent spacecraft orientation and allow transformation between reference frames without trigonometric functions. Magnetometers and sun sensors provide measurements to determine spacecraft attitude. 3) A bang-bang control law induces angular acceleration by firing thrusters to change the spacecraft's pitch attitude, but does not guarantee achieving the desired attitude change.

Uploaded by

a320neo
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

Spacecraft Attitude Control

Attitude Definitions
Euler Angles
Quaternions
Attitude Determination
Attitude Control
MAE 155A
NASA Image
2
MAE 155A
Spacecraft Body-Axis
X
Z
Y
Orbital Plane
b
1
b
2
b
3
3
MAE 155A
General Transformation
Complex transformation matrices are built more easily by combining simple rotations.
Positive rotation about X-axis or 1-axis:
j
Y'
X
Y
Z
|
X '
Y '
Z '

=
|
1 0 0
0 cos j sin j
0 sinj cos j

|
X
Y
Z

j
j
Z
Y
Z'
Y ' =Y cosj+Z sin j
X ' =X
Z ' =Y sin j+Z cos j
4
MAE 155A
More Simple Rotations
Positive rotation about Y-axis or 2-axis:
Positive rotation about Z-axis
or 3-axis:
j
X'
X
Y
Z
|
X '
Y '
Z '

=
|
cos j 0 sin j
0 1 0
sin j 0 cos j

|
X
Y
Z

j
j
Z
X
Z'
|
X '
Y '
Z '

=
|
cos j sin j 0
sinj cosj 0
0 0 1

|
X
Y
Z

X
Y
Z
j
j
Y'
j
X
Y
X'
5
MAE 155A
Euler Angles
Define a local frame (L) that is aligned with the orbital plane.
Z-axis of local frame points toward central body (usually Earth)
X-axis of local frame points in direction of the satellite velocity vector.
Vehicle angular orientation, or attitude, relative to the local frame is traditionally
specified by three rotations and therefore three Euler angles.
The three rotations, transforming from local frame to body-axis frame, are:
Rotation about positive Z-axis by heading angle
Rotation about positive Y-axis by pitch attitude angle
Rotation about positive X-axis by roll attitude angle
The rotation order is Z-axis (3-axis), then Y-axis (2-axis), and finally X-axis (1-axis)
The Euler angle transformation is sometimes called a 3-2-1 transformation.

6
MAE 155A
L2B Transformation
The transformation matrix that coverts vectors in the local frame to equivalent vectors
in the body axis is defined as follows:
T
L2B
=
|
1 0 0
0 cos sin
0 sin cos
|
cos 0 0 sin 0
0 1 0
sin0 0 cos 0
|
cos sin 0
sin cos 0
0 0 1

T
L2B
=
|
cos 0cos cos 0sin sin 0
sinsin0coscos sin sin sin 0sin +cos cos sincos 0
cos sin 0cos +sinsin cos sin 0sin sin cos cos cos 0

T
B2L
=T
L2B
T
and
7
MAE 155A
Quaternion Definition
Euler's Principal Rotation Theorem states that a completely general re-orientation of
a rigid body can be accomplished by a single rotation about some fixed axis.
|
q
1
q
2
q
3
q
4

=
|
e
1
sin(1/ 2)
e
2
sin(1/2)
e
3
sin(1/2)
cos(1/2)

1=Euler principal angle
e=
|
e
1
e
2
e
3

=unit length principal vector


Four Euler Parameters, also known as Quaternions
8
MAE 155A
Normalization
A constraint equation exists because there are four Euler parameters to define a
three-dimensional orientation.
q
1
2
+q
2
2
+q
3
2
+q
4
2
=(e
1
2
+e
2
2
+e
3
2
)sin
2
(1/ 2)+cos
2
(1/2)
e
1
2
+e
2
2
+e
3
2
=1
cos
2
(1/ 2)+sin
2
(1/ 2)=1
q
1
2
+q
2
2
+q
3
2
+q
4
2
=1
But
and
9
MAE 155A
L2B Transformation Matrix
The Local-to-Body (L2B) transformation matrix can be written in terms of the four
quaternions.
No trigonometric functions are required to build the L2B transformation matrix!
T
L2B
=
|
q
1
2
q
2
2
q
3
2
+q
4
2
2( q
1
q
2
+q
3
q
4
) 2( q
1
q
3
q
2
q
4
)
2( q
1
q
2
q
3
q
4
) q
1
2
+q
2
2
q
3
2
+q
4
2
2( q
2
q
3
+q
1
q
4
)
2( q
1
q
3
+q
2
q
4
) 2( q
2
q
3
q
1
q
4
) q
1
2
q
2
2
+q
3
2
+q
4
2

T
B2L
=T
L2B
T
and
or
T
L2B
=
|
2q
4
2
+2q
1
2
1 2(q
1
q
2
+q
3
q
4
) 2( q
1
q
3
q
2
q
4
)
2(q
1
q
2
q
3
q
4
) 2q
4
2
+2q
2
2
1 2( q
2
q
3
+q
1
q
4
)
2(q
1
q
3
+q
2
q
4
) 2(q
2
q
3
q
1
q
4
) 2q
4
2
+2q
3
2
1

10
MAE 155A
Magnetic Compass
Electromagnetic compass measures three components of the Earth's magnetic field.
m
B
=
|
m
x
m
y
m
z

=T
L2B
|
M cos t cos 6
M cos tsin 6
M sin t

N (true)
D
E
N (mag)
t
6
t=dip angle
6=declination angle
Measured in
vehicle body-axis
NGS model
It is sometimes difficult to calibrate the
scale factor that is required to convert
from sensor electrical output (such as
volts) to engineering units (Teslas).
m
B
=f
m
|
u
x
u
y
u
z

u
x
2
+u
y
2
+u
z
2
=1
f
m
=unknown scale factor
11
MAE 155A
Attitude Determination
If a sun sensor is available, the following equations combine both measurements
(magnetic and sun unit vectors) to yield the spacecraft's attitude.
m
B
=f
m
|
u
x
u
y
u
z

m
B
=T
L2B
m
L
s
B
= f
s
|
v
x
v
y
v
z

s
B
=T
L2B
s
L
u
x
2
+u
y
2
+u
z
2
=1
v
x
2
+v
y
2
+v
z
2
=1
3 Equations
Magnetometer
3 Equations
Sun sensor
Six equations and five unknowns (phi, theta, psi, fm, fs) implies that the attitude
problem is over-determined.
12
MAE 155A
Spacecraft Equations of Motion
The equations of rotational motion for a symmetric spacecraft are given below.
T
1
=I
11

o
1
( I
22
I
33
)o
2
o
3
T
2
=I
22

o
2
( I
33
I
11
)o
3
o
1
T
3
=I
33

o
3
( I
11
I
22
)o
1
o
2
I
11
=15.516 kg m
2
I
22
=21.621kg m
2
I
33
=15.234kg m
2
SAMPEX Spacecraft Inertias
o
1
=angular rate about 1-axis (x-body)
o
2
=angular rate about 2-axis (y-body)
o
3
=angular rate about 3-axis (z-body)
T
1
=torque about 1-axis
T
2
=torque about 2-axis
T
3
=torque about 3-axis
13
MAE 155A
Attitude Control
Consider a bang-bang control law to change the pitch attitude of the SAMPEX
spacecraft.

o=
T
I

0=o
Thrusters are fired to induce an angular acceleration (bang), then turned off (coast),
and then fired in the opposite direction (-bang) to allow for braking.
time
angular rate
t
b
t
b
t
m
o
max
o(t )=
|
T
I
t 0t t
b
o
max
t
b
t t
m
t
b
T
I
(t
m
t ) t
m
t
b
t t
m

o
max
=
T
I
t
b
equations of motion:
o=rotational rate
0=attitude angle
T =applied thruster torque
I =moment of inertia
14
MAE 155A
Attitude Angle
The spacecraft attitude angle will be displaced by the thruster firing profile.
Bang-bang control is an open-loop control method; there is no guarantee that the desired
attitude change is actually achieved.
time
t
b
t
b
t
m
0
b1
0
m
0
b2
0
b1
=
T
I
t
b
2
2
0
b2
=
T
I
t
b(
t
m

3
2
t
b)
0
m
=
T
I
t
b
(
t
m
t
b
)
t
m
=2t
b
-0
m
=
T
I
t
b
2
Note:

You might also like