Attitude Coordination Control of Spacecraft Formation

In this paper, we study adaptive attitude synchronization of spacecraft formation with switching topology. By introducing a novel adaptive control architecture and by transforming the attitude dynamics into Euler-Lagrange form, decentralized controllers are developed, which allow for parametric uncertainties and unknown external disturbances. Based upon graph theory and Lyapunov stability theory, rigid mathematical analysis on system stability is provided. A distinctive feature of this work is to address the adaptive attitude synchronization with general directed information flow. It is shown that arbitrary desired constant relative orientations within the group or with respect to any external references can be attained. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.