Slewing maneuver of a flexible spacecraft using finite time control

The slew-maneuver control problem is studied for a flexible spacecraft consisting of a rigid main body to which a long flexible appendage is attached. A nonlinear dynamical system model is first developed using a distributed parameter modeling technique. A filtered finite time control law is then introduced to achieve fast and precise slewing maneuvers without residual vibrations. The results are applied to a benchmark flexible system and a simulation example is included to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control technique.