Spacecraft attitude and velocity control system
US5130931A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 13, 1990 |
| Grant date | Jul 14, 1992 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 13, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB64G1/26
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A spacecraft attitude and/or velocity control system includes a controller which responds to at least attitude errors to produce command signals representing a force vector F and a torque vector T, each having three orthogonal components, which represent the forces and torques which are to be generated by the thrusters. The thrusters may include magnetic torquer or reaction wheels. Six difference equations are generated, three having the form ##EQU1## where a.sub.j is the maximum torque which the j.sup.th thruster can produce, b.sub.j is the maximum force which the j.sup.th thruster can produce, and .alpha..sub.j is a variable representing the throttling factor of the j.sup.th thruster, which may range from zero to unity. The six equations are summed to produce a single scalar equation relating variables .alpha..sub.j to a performance index Z: ##EQU2## Those values of .alpha. which maximize the value of Z are determined by a method for solving linear equations, such as a linear programming method. The Simplex method may be used. The values of .alpha..sub.j are applied to control the corresponding thrusters.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.