Dynamic control of non-holonomic motion in spacecraft/manipulator systems: task gradient technique

A systematic technique has been developed for synthesis of closed-loop dynamic controllers of motion in nonholonomic robotic systems. The proposed approach is based on the utilization of task functions for the synthesis of joint velocity, acceleration, and torque commands. It has been shown that the resultant control methods are asymptotically stable in the case of tracking desired positions. The proposed control approach has also been applied to motion control in spacecraft/manipulator systems. The major application considered is a manipulator mounted on the spacecraft (no jets) in which nonholonomic constraints arise because of the nonintegrable angular momentum conservation law