Finite-time disturbance observer based-control of flexible spacecraft

This paper aims to design an attitude controller for a flexible spacecraft under external disturbance and uncertainty. The spacecraft’s attitude is controlled by a super twisting controller based on a disturbance observer. This paper’s spacecraft system is non-minimum phase since mode-shapes are included in the output; thus, the following four methods are designed to compensate for the constraint: (1) The output redefinition method, where outputs are redefined as a combination of mode-shapes and quaternions. (2) The flexible spacecraft is controlled without measuring the mode-shapes, and only the quaternion parameters are selected as the output. (3) An advanced sliding surface is proposed, in which the mode-shapes are considered in the sliding surface. (4) The difference between flexible and rigid spacecraft dynamics is considered as disturbance, and its effect on the system is compensated. The finite-time stability of the closed-loop system is proved by leveraging the Lyapunov theory. The numerical simulation illustrates the closed-loop system’s effectiveness in terms of robustness compared to the existing controller and the four mentioned methods.