9.

2 Designof a Satellite's
Attitude Control 669
and parametervariations.If the performanceis not satisfactory.
return to Step 1 and repeat.
8. Build a prototypeand test it. If not satisfied,return to Step1 and
repeat.

9.2

Design of a Satellite's Attitude Control

Our flrst example,taken from the spaceprogram,is suggested
by the needto
control the pointingdirection,or attitude,of a satellitein orbit aboutthe earth.
We will go through eachstepin our designoutline and touch on someof the
factorsthat might be consideredfor the control of sucha system.
STEP 1. Understandtheprocessand its performance
specifications.
A satellite
is sketchedin Fig. 9.2.We imaginethat the vehiclehasan astronomicalsurvey
missionrequiringaccuratepointingof a scientificsensorpackage.This package
must be maintained in the quietest possible environment,which entails
isolatingit from the vibrationsand electricalnoise of the main servicebody
and from its power supplies,thrusters,and communicationgear.We modelthe
resultingstructureas two massesconnectedby a flexibleboom. Disturbance
torquesdue to ,diu. prerrure,micrometeorites,
and orbit perturbationsare
computedto be negligible.The pointingrequirementariseswhenit is necessary
to point the unit in another direction,it can be met by dynamicswith a
transientsettlingtime of 20secand an overshootof no more than l|Yo.The

F I G U R9E. 2
and its two-bodymodel
I agramof a satellite

*
I
l
,,
1
o2

/
---;
t
A.
" t r 4t
.'
/
tld.,-/
It,'W

)r4

L--ft

/
lnstrulnenl
Package

j:-r..-?

"'w@
,* lo

,,@

\ *:

i
!
il

i
1i'

670

Chapter 9

Control-system Design: Principles and Case Studies

dynamicsofthesatelliteincludeparametersthatcanvary.Thecontrolmust
prespecifiedrange to be given
be satisfacto.yro, unf paru*et.i values in a
when the equationsare written'
S T E P 2 . s e l e c t a s e n s o 1 . I n o r d e r t o o r i e n t t h e s c i e n t i fpurpose
i c p a c kwe
age,itis
vehicle.For this
necessaryto measurethe attitude anglesof the
based on gathering an image of a
propose to use u *,".-ii""X.t, u 'y'Lt
focal plane of a telescope.This
specificstar and t"epirrf it centeredon the
(on the average)reading
sensor gives a relativeli noisy but very accurate
packagefrom the
proporrtnu I to 02, the ingle of Oeviationof the instrument
gyro
to give a clean
ToitabilizJthe control, we include a rate
;#;J;;;F.
would amplify
signal
reading of 0,, since a lead network on the star-tracker
gyro can stabilize large motions
the noise too much. Furthermore, the rate
beforethestartrackerhasacquiredthetargetstarimage.
in selectingthe actuator
STEP 3. selectan actuator.Major considerations
areprecision,reliability,weight,powerrequirements'andlifetime'Alternatives
jets' reaction wheelsor gyros' magnetic
for applying torque u," "Ja-gut
most power and are the least
torquers,and a gravitfgi"Ai"nt]fn" ittt ttuut the
can only transfermomentum'sojes
accurate.Reaction*t.!t, are precisebut
"dump" momentum from time to time
or magnetictorquers a,e teqt'ired to
of torque and are only suitablc
Magnetic torquerspr*ia" reiativelylow levels
gravity gradientalso providesa very
for somelow-altitude satellitemissions.A
placessevererestrictionson
small torque that limits the speedof responseand
we selectcold-gasjetr
the shapeof the satel^lit..roi prrrporer^ofthis mission,
as being fast and adequatelyaccurate'
STEP4.Makealinearmodel.Forthesatelliteweassumetwomassc$
connectedbyaspringwithtorqueconstantkandviscous.dampingconstant}
as shownin Fig. 9'2-Theequationsof motion are

J r d ,+ b @ ,- o r 1 +t l e t - o r ) : T ,

(e.l{

J 16,+ bG,- e; + t4e'- or): o,

(e.lbl

With inertiasJ' : I ad
where f is the control torque on the main body'
J z : 0.1,the transferfunctionis
10bs* 10/<
1 l b s+ 1 l k ) '

If wechoose
x:l0z

0, 0r 6rf'

u' theequations
asthestatevector,then,usingEq.(9'1)andassuminET"=

Design of a Satellite'sAttitude Control

9.2

671

motion in state-variable form are

1
o
k
-i;-, b
x:

0
k

i;
y:U

o l

b I

i; l**
l l

i;

0
b

0
-i;k

i;

(9.3a)

b l
-nJ
(e.3b)

0 0 0lx.

Physicalanalysisof the boom leadsus to assumethat the parametersk

and b vary as a result of temperaturefluctuationsbut are boundedby

0 . 0 9< k < 0 . 4

Q.aa)
k

0.038!4< b< 0.2 10

(e.4b)

As a result, the vehicle'snatural resonancefrequency0)ncan vary betweenI

and 2rudlsec,and the dampingratio ( variesbetween0.02and 0'1.
One approachto control designwhen parametersare subjectto variation
"recting
vatues is to selectnoryinal valuesfor the parameters,contruct the designfor this
nominat
'r varyrng
parameters model,and then test the controllerperformancewith other parametervalues.
In the presentcasewe choosenominal valuesof ao: I and (: 0.02.The
choiceis somewhatarbitrary, beingbasedon experienceand heuristicanalysis.
However,note that theseare the lowestvaluesin their respectiverangesand
thus correspondto the plant that is probably the most difficult to control so
We assumethat a designfor this model has a
as to meet the specifications.
for other parametervaluesas well.
good chanceto meet the specifications
(Another choice would be to selecta model with averagevalues for each
parametervaluesatek:0.091 and b:0.0036; with
parameter).
The selected
J t : I and J r: 0.1,the nominal equationsbecome

[ o
.

x : l

| -o.er -0.036 o.e1

l

Iol

o l

0.036|
I ,.* lo1,.
I

-o.oe1-0.0036l
lo.ont 0.0036
y:U

0 0 Olx.

(e.5a)

l0l

Lrl
(e.5b)

The correspondingtransferfunctionis then

u(s,:

0.036(s
+ 25)
FGT 0o4s+ D

(e.6)

When a trial designis completed,the computersimulationshouldbe run

with a range of possibleparametervalues to ensure that the design has

672

Chapter 9

Case Studies
Control-system Desigir: Principles and

9.3
FIGURE
Rootlocusof K6(s)

9.4
FIGURE
Open-loopBodeplot of K6(s) for K:05

l0
)<

u
d

0.1
0.01
0.1

I
o (rad/sec)
(a)

- 180'
-200"
-220"
-240"
-260"
-280'
- 300'
-320"
- 340'
- 360"
0.1

I
r,r(rad/sec)
(b)

Equations(3.42)tell us that fu
adequaterobustnessto toleratethesechanges.
met if the closedJooppoleshaw e
dynamic performance,p".inlutio"s_will.be
a closedJoopdamping ratio of 0'5; thcr
natural frequency"f 0.i;;7;;;and
of a,"=05 rad/secand e
coprrespond,o un op"nioop "'ottont'.frequency
thesedesigncriteria
meet
to
phasemargin of uUouipftn I SO..We will tiy
STEP5.Tryalead-lagorPlDcontroller..Theproportional-gainrootloctrr
9'3' and the Bgde-nlot. is given in
for the nominal punf-L a*wn in Fig'
q'+ thatlhis may be a difficult designproblem
Fig. 9.4. We can ,." t * rG'
"tonunt" is greater than thc
becausethe frequency oi tttl fightly damped
situation will
a",igrr poini UV only- a factor of 2' This
crossover-frequency
the phaselag of the plant at thc
require that the "o,op"ir?,1o" "un "orr."i for