Coulomb forces associated with charged close-flying satellites can efficiently enable static formation equilibria, in which separation distances remain constant. However, limited Coulomb force controllability presents many challenges in maintaining and maneuvering these inherently unstable formations. This paper studies three-craft collinear equilibria, admitted in the presence of a central body gravity field. Necessary existence conditions for this class of Coulomb formation are given in previous research, and this paper extends these to be sufficient, while using a more accurate Coulomb force model. Stability properties of the resulting configuration cases are analyzed for the first time, and it is shown that each can exhibit marginal stability normal to the orbit plane. Also, it is demonstrated that in-plane perturbations can be asymptotically stabilized, using only craft charging, for the radially aligned configurations. A charge feedback law is derived for this case, and numerical results are provided. These stability and controllability properties correlate with those, previously known, for two- and three-craft (in the absence of gravity) formations. Lastly, invariant manifolds are generated to illustrate dynamic properties of these systems, and the possibility of exploiting the manifold flows to target minimum fuel reconfigurations (shape changes), is discussed.
Collinear Three-Craft Coulomb Formation Stability Analysis and Control
Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics ; 37 , 1 ; 224-232
2013-10-10
9 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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