A novel detumbling method for nutation debris based on lateral angular velocity peak

In conventional detumbling operations, although the debris tumbling angular velocity can be reduced, the normal operation makes it difficult to reduce its angular velocity in the lateral direction, which leads to debris deflection. In view of the characteristics of large disturbance and difficult elimination in the detumbling process of nutation debris, a new detumbling method based on lateral angular velocity peak considering relative pose optimization is proposed.Firstly, the dynamic modeling of the detumbling system with rotatable flexible rod was carried out, motion analysis of the nutation debris conducted. Secondly, the flexible contact process is described, and a contact force model considering friction based on Hertz model, is proposed. Subsequently, the lateral angular velocity of the sailboard debris has a significant influence on the disturbance of the tumbling effect, which may lead to a difficult detumbling, making the debris deflected, and consequently, leading to mission failure. A new method detumbling lateral angular velocity peak considering relative pose optimization is proposed, and a repeated detumbling strategy was designed, which was compared with the conventional strategy based on normal plane.The analysis results indicate that the novel detumbling method based on the peak lateral angular velocity achieves a similar detumbling effect as the conventional method, but with a lower amplitude of detumbling angular velocity. Additionally, the linear displacement and linear velocity of the tumbling target are significantly reduced compared to the conventional strategy. All in all, the new detumbling strategy based on the lateral angular velocity peak can not only achieve the same detumbling efficiency, but also reduce the disturbance to the debris, which has certain advantages in the application scenario of on-orbit service for nutation debris.