Robust Output-Feedback Predictive Control for Proximity Eddy Current Detumbling With Constraints and Uncertainty

Proximity operation can significantly improve the efficiency of eddy current detumbling. However, the tumbling motion and noncooperation of space debris make the chaser execute collision avoidance maneuvers and be influenced by model uncertainty. In this article, an inertial-oriented safety corridor is proposed by taking the debris' angular momentum as the central axis, which can avoid the frequent collision maneuvers of the chaser. Meanwhile, a desired detumbling trajectory under this safety corridor is designed to detumble the angular velocity of space debris. Then, a robust output-feedback controller considering safety corridor and model uncertainty is proposed by combining moving horizon estimation (MHE) and model predictive control (MPC). The MHE is employed to estimate the system state and model uncertainty which is compensated by a feedforward control law. Furthermore, the MPC without terminal ingredients is designed to realize the optimal performance of fuel consumption and the robust tracking stability of the system. Finally, taking the Chinese Sinosat-2 satellite as the simulation case, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme is verified.