Active vibration control of tethered solar power satellite during attitude maneuvering

For vibration suppression of tethered Solar Power Satellite (SPS) during large-angle slewing maneuver, a composite control method is proposed by combining main attitude control with active vibration control based on tether tension. Dynamics equations for the slewing motion of tethered SPS are presented. A mission Function (MF) Control Algorithm is applied to design these two controllers. The main controller is able not only to implement attitude maneuvering of tethered satellite but also suppress the relatively large amplitude vibration of the flexible solar panel. The compensate control system acting on the corners of flexible solar panels is required for the further vibration suppression, and the nonlinearity of the flexible tether is taken into account in the controller design. In the design process, the stability of the vibration control system is proved. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach can significantly suppress the vibration of the flexible solar panel during and after the maneuver operation.