Optimisation of controller reconfiguration instant for spacecraft control systems with additive actuator faults

Abstract

This paper aims to propose a method of optimising the controller reconfiguration (CR) instant for spacecraft control systems with additive actuator faults. Due to severe resource constraints, it is ‘expensive’ for spacecraft to handle the faults in orbit. To overcome the constraints, we try to reduce the CR cost from a perspective of time management. The basic idea of this method is to propose a reconfigurability evaluation index to quantify the capability of the fault system in maintaining admissible performance by CR measures, and then to derive the mathematical relationship between the reconfigurability index and four crucial instants during the CR process. Based on this, the CR instant is optimised by maximising the reconfigurability index. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated through an example. The results show that by enhancing the time management efficiency during the CR process, the limited resources can be economised to some extent.

Keywords:

• Spacecraft control
• additive actuator fault
• controller reconfiguration
• reconfigurability

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the reviewers and the Associate Editor for their valuable comments to improve this paper significantly.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars [Grant Number 61525301] and National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Numbers 61690215, 61640304, 61573060, 61203093].

Notes on contributors

Yuanyuan Tu

Yuanyuan Tu received the B.Eng. degree in flight vehicle design and engineering from the Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, in 2014, the M.E. degree in control science and engineering from the Beijing Institute of Control Engineering, China Academy of Space Technology, Beijing, China, in 2017. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the Beijing Institute of Control Engineering. From 2019 to 2020, she was a Joint Training Ph.D. Student with the University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany. Her research interests include tolerant control, reconfigurability evaluation and design for satellite control systems.

Dayi Wang

Dayi Wang received the B.Eng., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees from the Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, in 1995, 1997, and 2000, respectively. From 2003 to 2016, he was a Professor with the Beijing Institute of Control Engineering, China Academy of Space Technology, Beijing, China. He currently works as vice president of Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering. He is a recipient of National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and the chief technologist of '973' Project. Dr. Wang has carried out innovative work on spacecraft autonomous navigation and control, making great contributions to the successful flight of Chinese ChangE lunar missions. He is one of the young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contribution, and is national talent in the 'Ten Million Talents Project' of China. He received 2016 Science and Technology Innovation Award of HoLeung Ho Lee Foundation, one National Technological Innovation prize (second class), one National Science and Technology Progress Award (Outstanding Award) and several ministerial level prizes (first class for 6 times).

Wenbo Li

Wenbo Li received the Ph.D. degree from the Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, in 2012. He is currently a Senior Engineer with the Beijing Institute of Control Engineering. His research interests include fault diagnosis and tolerant control, fault diagnosability evaluation, and design for satellite control systems.

Maodeng Li

Maodeng Li received the B.S. and Ph.D degrees in aerospace engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, P.R. China, in 2006 and 2011, respectively. From September 2011 to August 2013, he was a postdoctoral research associate in the Beijing Institute of Control Engineering. Since August 2013, he has been with Science and Technology on Space Intelligent Control Laboratory of the Beijing Institute of Control Engineering as a senior engineer. His current research areas include spacecraft autonomous navigation and GNC design for planetary landing missions.