Design of dynamic dissipative compensators for flexible space structures

Control system design is considered for attitude control and vibration suppression of flexible space structures. The problem addressed is that of controlling both the zero-frequency rigid-body modes and the elastic modes. Model-based compensators, which employ observers tuned to the plant parameters, are first investigated. Such compensators are shown to generally exhibit high sensitivity to the knowledge of the parameters, especially the elastic mode frequencies. To overcome this problem, a class of dynamic dissipative compensators is next proposed which robustly stabilize the plant in the presence of unmodeled dynamics and parametric uncertainties. An analytical proof of robust stability is given, and a method of implementing the controller as a strictly proper compensator is described. Methods of designing such controllers to obtain optimal performance and robust stability are presented. Numerical and experimental results of application of the methods are presented, which indicate that dynamic dissipative controllers can simultaneously provide excellent performance and robustness.<>