Abstract The problem of relative drift elimination between the satellites in the swarm is considered in the paper. The proposed decentralized control takes into account a communication constraint such as limited size of communication area. Only the satellites within the communication area can be identified by relative motion determination system. The control aim is to eliminate the mean relative drift between all the satellites inside the communication area. The purpose of the work is to study the performance of the proposed decentralized control algorithm. It is shown that the system matrix of differential equations for the vector of relative drifts is related to the Laplacian matrix of the communication graph. In the case of the connected swarm, all but one eigenvalues of the system are negative, and the remaining one is equal to zero. It means that all the relative drifts converge to the same value under the proposed control. The speed of convergence is defined by the minimum absolute eigenvalue that depends on the graph topology. The initial drift and the convergence speed make it possible to estimate the communication distance that provides the connectivity of the graph. Considering normally distributed errors of the initial velocity after the launch, it is possible to estimate the distance between any two satellites after the convergence. It allows us to estimate the communication distance that ensures the relative drift elimination between all the satellites in the swarm. The obtained estimations are validated using Monte Carlo simulations. In numerical simulations the swarm of 3U CubeSats in low-Earth orbit is considered. The decentralized control is implemented by differential aerodynamic drag via the change of cross-sectional area using onboard reaction wheels.

    Highlights Problem of relative drift elimination between satellites in the swarm is considered. The proposed decentralized control takes into account a limited communication area. Estimation of the communication area size that guarantees convergence is derived. Analytical estimation of communication distance is obtained using graph theory. Performance of swarm control by differential drag is studied numerically.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Communication area estimation for decentralized control of nanosatellites swarm



    Published in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 211 ; 49-59


    Publication date :

    2023-06-02


    Size :

    11 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





    Decentralized differential drag based control of nanosatellites swarm spatial distribution using magnetorquers

    Ivanov, Danil / Monakhova, Uliana / Guerman, Anna et al. | Elsevier | 2020


    Microthrusters for Nanosatellites

    Janson, S. / Helvajian, H. / Hansen, W. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1999


    Miniaturized attitude control system for nanosatellites

    Candini, Gian Paolo | Online Contents | 2012


    Coilgun Launcher for Nanosatellites

    Turman, B. N. / Aerospace Corporation | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1999