This thesis investigates the development and implementation of optimal slew trajectories for positioning a spacecraft antenna. Conventional maneuvers are developed by considering each gimbal independently. Consequently, maneuver design is simple, but may be highly sub-optimal and cause significant torques to be imposed on the spacecraft body. This work explores the impact of implementing optimal slew paths that best utilize system dynamics with the objective of increasing available customer time on communications links and enabling new missions. Accomplishing this required the development of a detailed multibody system model that can be easily tailored to any spacecraft antenna configuration. Various software suites were used to perform thorough validation and verification of the Newton-Euler formulation developed herein. The antenna model was then utilized to solve an optimal control problem for a geostationary communications satellite. The developed maneuvers not only reduce the antenna slew time, but also reduce the impact of the antenna motion on the spacecraft attitude. This reduces reliance on the spacecraft attitude control system to maintain pointing, and minimizes the impact of antenna motion on the operation of other payloads. Successful implementation of the designed maneuvers on a laboratory testbed validate the approach in a real hardware environment.
Design and Experimental Implementation of Optimal Spacecraft Antenna Slews
2013
167 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Electrotechnology , Unmanned Spacecraft , Antennas , Communication satellites , Maneuvers , Aiming , Antenna configurations , Attitude control systems , Bodies , Computer programs , Control , Dynamics , Environments , Formulations , Gimbals , Impact , Laboratory tests , Missions , Models , Motion , Operation , Optimization , Paths , Payload , Position finding , Position(location) , Spacecraft , Spacecraft antennas , Synchronous satellites , Test beds , Theses , Trajectories , Validation , Verification
First Flight Results on Time-Optimal Spacecraft Slews
Online Contents | 2012
|First Flight Results on Time-Optimal Spacecraft Slews (AAS 11-110)
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2011
|Optimal Switching Between Targets Using Rate-Limited Slews (AAS 05-331)
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2006
|Constrained Slews for Single-Axis Pointing
AIAA | 2008
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