Hybrid constrained formation flying control of micro-satellites

A solution to the problem of formation reconfiguration and keeping for fleets of microsatellites in the presence of persistent disturbances and under input-saturation and formation accuracy constraints is proposed. Relative position and attitude dynamics are considered. For suitable initial conditions, the proposed control scheme produces system evolutions that fulfil the coordination constraints at any time and satisfy desirable control performance. This is accomplished by using a bank of command governor units in a switching supervisory control framework. Examples are provided in order to show the effectiveness of the technique.