Modeling and effect analysis of space nutation target detumbling using rotatable flexible rod

The contact method based on flexible actuator is safe and efficient for the detumbling task of space nutation targets. In this paper, a detumbling system with a rotatable flexible rod as the end effector is proposed to reduce the rotational angular velocity of the target by contacting the solar sail panel of the target with the flexible rod, and the selection of the initial relative position and attitude is discussed. First, the contact dynamics model of a rotatable flexible rod considering the nonlinear coupling term is derived using the floating frame of reference formulation and validated for comparison. Next, in order to ensure the accuracy of contact detection in the contact model, it is proposed to transform the contact detection of flexible bodies into a nonlinear programming problem and solve it using the quantum particle swarm optimization. Finally, the simulation results show that the detumbling system can effectively reduce the triaxial angular velocity of the nutation target. At the same time, in order to improve the detumbling effect, the contact point should not choose the midpoint of the sail edge in the conventional way, and the relative position and attitude of the end effector before contact must be reasonably set.