Global finite-time attitude consensus tracking control for a group of rigid spacecraft

ABSTRACT

The problem of finite-time attitude consensus for multiple rigid spacecraft with a leader–follower architecture is investigated in this paper. To achieve the finite-time attitude consensus, at the first step, a distributed finite-time convergent observer is proposed for each follower to estimate the leader's attitude in a finite time. Then based on the terminal sliding mode control method, a new finite-time attitude tracking controller is designed such that the leader's attitude can be tracked in a finite time. Finally, a finite-time observer-based distributed control strategy is proposed. It is shown that the attitude consensus can be achieved in a finite time under the proposed controller. Simulation results are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

KEYWORDS:

• Finite-time control
• attitude consensus
• spacecraft
• observer

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 61403053].

Notes on contributors

Penghua Li

Penghua Li received his bachelor degree and Ph. D. degree from Chongqing University in 2008 and 2012, respectively. He is currently an associate professor at the College of Automation, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications. His research interest covers artificial neural networks and its applications, and intelligent control of spacecraft.