Spacecraft reorientation in presence of attitude constraints via logarithmic barrier potentials

This paper proposes a methodology-based on convex navigation functions-for three-axis attitude reorientation for a rigid body spacecraft in presence of multiple constraints. In this direction, two types of attitude constrained zones are first defined, namely, the attitude forbidden and mandatory zones. The paper then utilizes a convex parameterization of forbidden and mandatory zones for constructing a logarithmic barrier potential function that is subsequently used for the synthesis of the attitude control laws. The feasible controller which uses the feedback of the unit quaternions in the context of the proposed methodology is then implemented using a modified integrator back stepping method in order to compromise the actuator saturations. The paper concludes with a set of simulation results in order to evaluate the effectiveness, and demonstrate the viability, of the proposed methodology.