Finite time non-singular sliding mode control for spinning tether system with prescribed performance under artificial gravity mission

In this paper, the spinning tether system (STS) is applied to produce the artificial gravity overload with a proposed spin-up scheme in elliptical transfer orbits. To improve the comfort of the astronauts during spinning, the combined control scheme with tension and thrust is designed for spin-up. Then, based on the novel performance function and sliding mode technology, a finite time prescribed performance controller is proposed to track angular velocity for the desired artificial gravity overload. Compared with the existing works, the tracking error is controlled within the preset transient performance and converged to the origin within finite time even in the presence of unknown external disturbance. The stability of closed-loop tracking system is proved by Lyapunov theorem. Finally, the numerical simulations are given to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controllers in the artificial gravity mission.