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Wave-Based Attitude Control of Spacecraft with Fuel Sloshing Dynamics

2015-07-02, Thompson, Joseph W., O'Connor, William

Wave-Based Control has been previously applied successfully to simple underactuated flexible mechanical systems. Spacecraft and rockets with structural flexibility and sloshing are examples of such systems but have added difficulties due to non-uniform structure, external disturbing forces and non-ideal actuators and sensors. The aim of this paper is to extend the application of WBC to spacecraft systems, to compare the performance of WBC to other popular controllers and to carry out experimental validation of the designed control laws. A mathematical model is developed for an upper stage accelerating rocket moving in a single plane. Fuel sloshing is represented by an equivalent mechanical pendulum model. A wave-based controller is designed for the upper stage AVUM of the European launcher Vega. In numerical simulations the controller successfully suppresses the sloshing motion. A major advantage of the strategy is that no measurement of the pendulum states (sloshing motion) is required.

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Wave-Based Analysis and Control of Lump-Modeled Flexible Robots

2007-04, O'Connor, William

Flexible robots are frequently represented by lumped models. In the mechanics of lumped systems, wave concepts have been avoided, for good reasons, generally. In the control of lumped flexible systems, however, wave concepts prove very fruitful. This paper provides a foundation for the wave-based control application by exploring the validity and nature of wave concepts in lumped robotic systems. A new wave-based model of uniform mass-spring systems is proposed and verified. The model is exact but not unique. Useful simplifications and approximations are also presented. The model leads to control strategies for flexible robotic systems that are simple, powerful, robust, and generic. The wave approach also provides a new analysis tool and conceptual framework for lumped dynamic systems.

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Publication

Wave-like modelling of cascaded, lumped, flexible systems with an arbitrarily moving boundary

2011-06-20, O'Connor, William

This paper considers cascaded, lumped, flexible systems, which may be short and non-uniform, which are driven by an arbitrarily moving boundary. Such systems exhibit vaguely wavelike behaviour yet defy classical wave analysis. The paper proposes novel ways to analyse and model such systems in terms of waves. It presents two new wave models for non-uniform systems, one series and one shunt, defining their component wave transfer functions, and thereby providing a way to define, identify and measure component waves. Features of the models are compared. The series and shunt configurations are mutually consistent and can be combined into a single composite wave model. The models are exact, but elements within them remain arbitrary to some degree, implying slight differences in the wave decomposition of the system. Some good model choices are proposed and explored. Wave speed and wave impedance are briefly considered, as are ways to measure component waves. Implications are discussed.