This award supports a one-year collaborative international dissertation enhancement project. The principal investigator for the project is William Singhose at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The Japanese collaborator is Saburo Matunaga at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. They will be undertaking research on an experimental evaluation of coordinated flexible satellite control. The precise control of spacecraft with flexible appendages is extremely difficult. The complexity of this task is magnified many times when several flexible spacecraft must be controlled precisely and collaboratively as in formation flying. Coordinated satellite control requires a group of spacecraft to fly in a desired trajectory while maintaining relative position and velocity with respect to each other. The Two-Dimensional Spacecraft Dynamics Simulator at the Tokyo Institute of Technology was constructed to verify the Robot Satellite Cluster Systems. The two objectives of the project are to: 1) evaluate vibration reducing on-off thruster profiles for three coordinated satellites and 2) evaluate vibration reducing on-off thruster profiles for three coordinated satellites that are connected by tethers.
The project brings together the efforts of two laboratories that have complementary expertise and research capabilities. The collaboration will offer great mutual benefits and could advance the research field in three ways: 1) experimental verification of the proposed satellite thruster control method will enable a significant advancement in satellite control system design; 2) the extension to multiple, coordinated spacecraft will greatly expand the utility of the on-off thruster control methods developed previously for single, independent spacecraft and 3) satellites equipped with on-off thrusters will be able to maneuver faster, more accurately, and with less residual vibration. The project advances international human resources through the participation of a graduate student. Through the exchange of ideas and technology, this project will broaden our base of basic knowledge and promote international understanding and cooperation. Results of the research will be disseminated at scientific meetings and in scientific journals.
