Quaternion-Based Non-Singular Terminal Sliding Mode Control for a Satellite-Mounted Space Manipulator

In this letter, a robust control solution for a satellite equipped with a robotic manipulator is presented. First, the dynamical model of the system is derived based on quaternions to describe the evolution of the attitude of the base satellite. Then, a non-singular terminal sliding mode controller that employs quaternions for attitude control, is proposed for concurrently handling all the degrees of freedom of the system. Moreover, an additional adaptive term is embedded in the controller to estimate the upper bounds of disturbances and uncertainties. The result is a resilient solution able to withstand unmodelled dynamics and interactions. Lyapunov theory is used to prove the stability of the controller and numerical simulations allow assessing performance and fuel efficiency.

Automated summary

This letter presents a robust control solution for a satellite equipped with a robotic manipulator. The dynamical model of the system is derived based on quaternions to describe the satellite's attitude evolution. A non-singular terminal sliding mode controller that uses quaternions for attitude control is proposed to handle all degrees of freedom of the system concurrently. An additional adaptive term is embedded in the controller to estimate disturbances and uncertainties. The result is a resilient solution capable of withstanding unmodelled dynamics and interactions. Stability of the controller is proved using Lyapunov theory, and numerical simulations are conducted to assess performance and fuel efficiency.