Synchronized motion and compliant control for dual control moment gyroscopes by realizing the impedance transformation matrix

In this paper, dual control moment gyroscopic actuators (CMG) were formed in a scissored-pair configuration to maximize the induced torque in the desired direction. A robust synchronizing motion control method was proposed to regulate the directional gyroscopic torque. In order for the two CMGs to form a scissored-pair structure having opposite angular momentum vectors, the synchronization of two CMGs was done without losing the control capability due to axial drift. A transformation matrix was designed for the robust synchronization control performance by realizing the empirically discovered impedance models of CMGs. Three different control modes were realized by selecting the components of the impedance transformation matrix (ITM): a robustly independent control mode, a synchronized motion control mode, and a mixed motion control mode. Each CMG played the role of either a master or a slave and copied the motion from another to follow it under the synchronization mode. The experimental results show that two CMGs can generate a robust and directional torque under the mixed control mode of both robust and synchronization control.