Observer-Based Robust Control for Spacecraft Rendezvous with Thrust Saturation

Abstract EN

This paper proposes an observer-based robust guaranteed cost control method for thrust-limited rendezvous in near-circular orbits.

Treating the noncircularity of the target orbit as a parametric uncertainty, a linearized motion model derived from the two-body problem is adopted as the controlled plant.

Based on this model, a robust guaranteed cost observer-controller is synthesized with a less conservative saturation control law, and sufficient condition for the existence of this observer-based rendezvous controller is derived.

Finally, an illustrative example with immeasurable velocity states is presented to demonstrate the advantages and effectiveness of the control scheme.