Attitude path design and adaptive robust tracking control of a remote sensing satellite in various imaging modes

Abstract

This paper addresses the attitude path design of a remote sensing satellite in various imaging modes. The novel path design algorithm is based on local polynomial regression, which produces a smooth attitude path by receiving the size and timing of maneuvers in each axis according to the desired imaging mode. This algorithm is described for stereo and snapshot modes in an imaging operation. The adaptive robust tracking control (ARTC) law is designed using quaternion algebra to perform the required maneuvers in an attitude path. The ARTC structure includes a sliding mode strategy, a projection-based adaptive model compensation, and a linear feedback term. Suitable conditions for imaging in each mode and the time of taking the image are determined by defining and evaluating the attitude control indices. These indices are defined by the half-cone error along the payload line of sight and relative performance error as a jitter with a 3-sigma confidence level. Despite the challenges in the path design, such as smoothness, system agility, and finite time realization of indices, in a conventional stereo imaging mode, taking an image in the nadir-pointing attitude is neglected. As a result, our work provides suitable conditions for taking the image in this attitude with an interval of 1.2 s. Finally, numerical simulations and verification are performed using multidisciplinary simulation, indicating the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and model-based ARTC law.