Dual Manipulator-Actuated Integrated Translational and Rotational Stabilization of Spacecraft in Proximity Operations

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel dual manipulator-actuated control strategy to handle integrated translational and rotational stabilization problems of spacecraft during proximity operations. To this end, the general coupled translational and rotational kinematics of a spacecraft mounted with two manipulators are first formulated based on momentum conservation. To provide adequate control force/torque, a control allocation requirement is then given as a necessary condition for manipulator configuration design. Moreover, the control capability of manipulator actuation is analyzed using both theoretical derivations and numerical examples. In what follows, taking the joint motion as the control input, a finite-time control scheme is proposed such that the translation and rotation of the spacecraft can be stabilized at a predetermined time by solving an equivalent designated trajectory tracking problem. Two types of self-collision problems, including one occurring between two manipulators and the other occurring between the manipulators and the spacecraft body, are considered and resolved using the respective plane-splitting and circumscribed sphere methods proposed. The closed-loop stability is guaranteed within the Lyapunov framework. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effect of the control scheme designed.