초록 ▼

Controlled momentum gyros are rotated to change the attitude of a satellite as rapidly as possible by rotating them along a great circle path on an imaginary spherical surface around the satellite. Adjustments the gyro rotations are made in two directions, along the spherical surface, as the satelli

Controlled momentum gyros are rotated to change the attitude of a satellite as rapidly as possible by rotating them along a great circle path on an imaginary spherical surface around the satellite. Adjustments the gyro rotations are made in two directions, along the spherical surface, as the satellite rotates. All the stored angular momentum in the gyros is used to rotate the satellite, rather than limiting the rotation of the gyros to avoid instabilities from singularities in traditional control laws.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An attitude control for a satellite comprising a plurality of controlled momentum gyros, an attitude controller comprising signal processing means for providing a gimbal rate signal, for each control momentum gyro, to operate an actuator to rotate each controlled momentum

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An attitude control for a satellite comprising a plurality of controlled momentum gyros, an attitude controller comprising signal processing means for providing a gimbal rate signal, for each control momentum gyro, to operate an actuator to rotate each controlled momentum gyro to change the attitude of the satellite from a first attitude to a second attitude in respond to a commanded attitude signal and an inertial measurement unit for providing signals manifesting satellite rotation, characterized in that:the signal processing means comprises:means for producing an error signal manifesting the difference between the commanded attitude and an actual attitude manifested by a attitude signal produced by the inertial measurement unit;means for producing said gimbal rate signal from a first control law when said error signal is less than a first value, said first control law limiting the rotation of the controlled momentum gyros to rotate the satellite at a rate that is less than the maximum rate available from the controlled momentum gyros;means for producing said gimbal rate signal from a second control law when said error is greater than said first value, said second control law producing said gimbal rate signal, for each controlled momentum gyro, that cause all the controlled momentum gyros to be rotated to apply their respective stored angular momentum in a direction that is approximated by a great circle between the first attitude and the second attitude on an imaginary sphere with a center at the center of rotation of the satellite;means for modifying said gimbal signal, based on a change in the actual attitude signal, during said second control law to maintain the rotation of the satellite in said direction;the first control law comprises the application of pseudo inverse rules; andthe second control comprises determining the rotation of the each control momentum gyro to rotate the satellite to the second attitude in the shortest time.