Optimal control of rigid body rotation around center of mass (Q1410223)

The satellite is modeled by the axisymmetric rigid body rotating about its center of mass under the action of two pairs of jets. Their torque directions are constant in the body. The subject of the paper is the optimal control problem of changing the angular velocity vector with arbitrary but fixed initial an end points and with minimum fuel consumption, the control functions are bounded. This nonlinear problem often has no solution in the class of measurable control functions. To solve the problem, the Bellman-Krotov equation is analyzed and the passive integrals method is applied. The optimal synthesis is found generally in the form of cyclic sliding mode (minimizing sequence).