A simple output-based stabilizing controller for attitude regulation of a rigid spacecraft with gas-jet actuators

We present a simple control scheme for attitude regulation of a rigid spacecraft actuated by gas-jet systems. It is shown that a simple output-based controller stabilizes the highly-nonlinear system under consideration. The controller is based on measurements of rotation angles only, and hence noisy signals associated with measurements of velocity variables are not involved in the control process. Provided the location of the center of mass is known, the controller is independent of the system parameters. The problem resulting from the singular points of the selected transformation that yields the required kinematic representation, is considered