Control of nonlinear multibody flexible space structures (Q1922285)

The book is a follow-on of the second author's book ``Control of Large Flexible Space Structures'' (1989; Zbl 0762.93001). The objective of the book is to study the problem of robust control of multibody flexible space systems like Earth observing systems, manipulators and satellite servicing. First, the problem of bringing the spacecraft from any initial state to a desired final resting position is considered. A mathematical model is derived using the Lagrangian formulation and the equations of motion have the form of nonlinear coupled vector-matrix ODEs. Exploiting the concept of passivity (which is a specification of the notion of dissipativity) and the Lyapunov-La Salle approach, some fundamental stability results are given. The main result provides a class of output feedback controllers that offer globally stable closed-loop maneuvers for nonlinear multibody flexible spacecraft. For a special case, the nonlinear systems are shown to be robustly stabilized by linear static dissipative controllers. Then, the authors consider the problem of trajectory tracking for multibody flexible space structures. For rigid multibody spacecraft, they give a control law which provides asymptotically stable tracking of specified trajectories. This control law does not extend to multibody flexible spacecraft and so the results on tracking seem to be preliminary. Finally, some numerical examples are provided in order to illustrate the results on stability for both a spacecraft with flexible appendages and a large space antenna.