Adaptive multivariable finite‐time continuous fault‐tolerant control of rigid spacecraft

The problem of fault‐tolerant attitude tracking control for rigid spacecraft in the presence of inertia uncertainties, actuator faults, and external disturbances is investigated in this paper. A novel adaptive finite‐time continuous fault‐tolerant control strategy is developed by combining the fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode surface and the adaptive multivariable super‐twisting algorithm, which improves the robustness while preserving high accuracy and finite‐time convergence. The main features of the control strategy are the double‐layer adaptive algorithm based on equivalent control, which ensures nonoverestimation of the control gain and the continuous controller, which maintains better property of chattering reduction. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed controller is illustrated by numerical simulations.     

Reaction wheel fault‐tolerant finite‐time control for spacecraft attitude tracking without unwinding

This article proposes fault‐tolerant finite‐time attitude tracking control of a rigid spacecraft actuated by four reaction wheels without unwinding problem in the presence of external disturbances, uncertain inertia parameter, and actuator faults. First, a novel antiunwinding finite‐time attitude tracking control law is derived with a designed control signal which works within a known actuator‐magnitude constraint using a continuous nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode (NFTSM) concept. Second, a finite‐time disturbance observer (FTDO) is introduced to estimate a lumped disturbance due to external disturbances, uncertain inertia parameter, actuator faults, and input saturation. Third, a composite controller is developed which consists of a feedback control based on the continuous NFTSM method and compensation term based on the FTDO. The global finite‐time stability is proved using Lyapunov stability theory. Moreover, the singularity and unwinding phenomenon are avoided. Simulation results are conducted under actuator constraints in the presence of external disturbances, inertia uncertainty, and actuator faults and results are illustrated to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. In addition, to show the superiority of the proposed control method over the recently reported control methods, comparative analysis is also presented.     

Adaptive‐gain multivariable super‐twisting sliding mode control for reentry RLV with torque perturbation

Reusable launch vehicle (RLV) should be under control in the presence of model uncertainty and external disturbance, which is considered as torque perturbation in this paper during the reentry phase. Such a challenge imposes tight requirements to the enhanced robustness and accuracy of the vehicle autopilot. The key of this paper is to propose an adaptive‐gain multivariable super‐twisting sliding mode controller when considering that the bounds of uncertainty and perturbation are not known. The important features of the controller are that the adaptation algorithm can achieve non‐overestimating values of the control gains and the multivariable super‐twisting sliding mode approach can obtain a more elegant solution in finite time. According to the multiple‐time scale features, the dynamics of RLV attitude motion are divided into outer‐loop subsystem and inner‐loop subsystem. On this basis, the controllers are designed respectively to ensure the finite‐time reentry attitude tracking. In addition, a proof of the finite‐time convergence for the overall system is derived using the Lyapunov function technique and multiple‐time scale characteristic. Finally, simulation results of six degree‐of‐freedom RLV are provided to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controller in tracking the guidance commands as well as achieving a safe and stable reentry flight. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distributed fault‐tolerant control design for spacecraft finite‐time attitude synchronization

This paper develops two distributed finite‐time fault‐tolerant control algorithms for attitude synchronization of multiple spacecraft with a dynamic virtual leader in the presence of modeling uncertainties, external disturbances, and actuator faults. The leader gives commands only to a subset of the followers, and the communication flow between followers is directed. By employing a novel distributed nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode and adaptive mechanism, a distributed finite‐time fault‐tolerant control law is proposed to guarantee all the follower spacecraft that finite‐time track a dynamic virtual leader. Then utilizing three distributed finite‐time sliding mode estimators, an estimator‐based distributed finite‐time fault‐tolerant control law is proposed using only the followers' estimates of the virtual leader. Both of them do not require online identification of the actuator faults and provide robustness, finite‐time convergence, fault‐tolerant, disturbance rejection, and high control precision. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to evaluate the theoretical results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive fault tolerant control for a class of uncertain fractional‐order systems based on disturbance observer

In this paper, a class of fractional‐order nonlinear systems are considered in the presence of actuator faults. A novel fault tolerant control scheme based on disturbance observer has been presented, where the actuator faults are considered as the system disturbance and can be approximated by the proposed disturbance observer. The developed fault tolerant control guarantees the convergence of the closed‐loop system and the output tracking performance. Finally, a simulation example is presented to verify the effectiveness of the new method.     

Adaptive finite‐time fault‐tolerant tracking control for a class of MIMO nonlinear systems with output constraints

In this work, we present a novel adaptive finite‐time fault‐tolerant control algorithm for a class of multi‐input multi‐output nonlinear systems with constraint requirement on the system output tracking error. Both parametric and nonparametric system uncertainties can be effectively dealt with by the proposed control scheme. The gain functions of the nonlinear systems under discussion, especially the control input gain function, can be not fully known and state‐dependent. Backstepping design with a tan‐type barrier Lyapunov function and a new structure of stabilizing function is presented. We show that under the proposed control scheme, finite‐time convergence of the output tracking error into a small set around zero is guaranteed, while the constraint requirement on the system output tracking error will not be violated during operation. An illustrative example on a robot manipulator model is presented in the end to further demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive fixed‐time fault‐tolerant control for rigid spacecraft using a double power reaching law

In this paper, an adaptive fixed‐time fault‐tolerant control scheme is presented for rigid spacecraft with inertia uncertainties and external disturbances. By using an inverse trigonometric function, a novel double power reaching law is constructed to speed up the state stabilization and reduce the chattering phenomenon simultaneously. Then, an adaptive fixed‐time fault‐tolerant controller is developed for the spacecraft with the actuator faults, such that the fixed‐time convergence of the attitude and angular velocity could be guaranteed, and no prior knowledge on the upper bound of the lumped uncertainties is required anymore in the controller design. Comparative simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and superior performance of the proposed scheme.     

基于光滑二阶滑模的可重复使用运载器有限时间再入姿态控制

针对可重复使用运载器(reusable launch vehicle,RLV)的六自由度再入模型,考虑模型不确定和外界干扰对再入姿态控制的影响,提出了一种非线性鲁棒控制策略.首先,根据多时间尺度特性将RLV的再入姿态模型分为姿态角子系统和姿态角速率子系统.其次,对每个子系统分别设计光滑二阶滑模控制器和滑模干扰观测器实现子系统的有限时间稳定.利用干扰观测器可以实现对不确定和外界干扰的精确估计,从而对控制器进行有效的补偿.进而,基于Lyapunov理论证明了整个系统的有限时间稳定.最后,通过仿真验证了提出的控制策略具有良好的控制性能和鲁棒性.     

Adaptive fault‐tolerant formation control for quadrotors with actuator faults

In this paper, we investigate the fault‐tolerant formation control of a group of quadrotor aircrafts with a leader. Continuous fault‐tolerant formation control protocol is constructed by using adaptive updating mechanism and boundary layer theory to compensate actuator fault. Results show that the desired formation pattern and trajectory under actuator fault can be achieved using the proposed fault‐tolerant formation control. A simulation is conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the method.     

Multivariable supertwisting fixed‐time approach for RLV re‐entry attitude control

The attitude control problem of reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) is investigated based on multivariable supertwisting fixed‐time comprehensive control strategy. A novel multivariable supertwisting fixed‐time approach, which can guarantee that the states converge to zero within a fixed time, is proposed. According to the multiple time scale principle, the RLV attitude control system is divided into attitude angle subsystem and attitude angle rate subsystem. Based on multivariable supertwisting fixed‐time approach, comprehensive design of fixed‐time disturbance observer and controller is proposed to ensure that the attitude angle tracking error converges to zero within a fixed time. The features of the proposed control scheme contain that the settling time is independent of initial conditions and it has the better property of chattering reduction. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed method is verified through numerical simulation.