Attitude Synchronization of Multiple Rigid Bodies With Communication Delays

We consider the attitude synchronization problem of multiple rigid bodies (or spacecraft) in the presence of communication delays. Specifically, we propose a virtual systems-based approach that removes the requirement of the angular velocity measurements. First, we present a solution to the leaderless and leader-follower problems in the case of time-varying communication delays and undirected communication topology. Second, we present an attitude synchronization scheme that solves the leaderless problem under directed interconnection between rigid bodies in the presence of constant communication delays. Finally, we show that the proposed schemes can be extended in a straightforward manner to solve the cooperative attitude tracking control problem.