Robust reliable control for autonomous spacecraft rendezvous with limited-thrust

This paper investigates the problem of robust reliable control for the spacecraft rendezvous with limited-thrust. Based on the Clohessy-Wiltshire (C-W) equations and by considering the uncertainties and the possible failures, the dynamic model for spacecraft rendezvous is proposed, and the orbital transfer control problem is transformed into a stabilization problem. Then, by a Lyapunov approach, the existence conditions for admissible controllers are formulated in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), and the controller design is cast into a convex feasibility problem subject to LMI constraints. With the obtained controllers, the rendezvous can be accomplished with the limited-thrust in spite of the possible thruster failures. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated by simulation examples. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.