Title
Development and Design of a Hovering Controller for Operation in a Dynamic Asteroid Environment
Date
6-2011
Degree Name
BS in Aerospace Engineering
Department
Aerospace Engineering Department
Advisor(s)
Eric Mehiel
Abstract
The project seeks to develop a dynamic model similar to that present near a solar system small body, and to design a controller suggested in other resources that will allow a spacecraft operating in this environment to hover in a fixed location in the relative reference frame of the small body. The paper discusses the derivation of the equations of motion used in the non-linear dynamic model, the design of the controller that will allow the spacecraft to hover, and the development of the control loop that will simulate the spacecraft hovering in the dynamic environment of the asteroid 1999 JU3. A phase plane analysis is conducted to validate the stability of the system, as well as provide a means for adjusting the accuracy to which the controller hovers about the desired set point. The project is successful in all the stated goals, and improvements to the project are discussed.
URL: http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/aerosp/47
Hovering Controller