Switched control of satellites for global stabilization and local performance: A sum of squares approach

The main contribution of this chapter is the development of a two step switched approach for global stabilization and local performance of large angle maneuvers of satellites. The first step consists of parameterizing the attitude dynamics of the satellite by modified Rodriguez parameters (MRP) and searching for a Lyapunov-based stabilizing controller using sum of squares (SOS). In the second step, when the rigid body is close to its desired attitude set point, the control switches to a linear controller that can guarantee local performance and that uses less computational operations to be implemented in a microprocessor. The effectiveness of the proposed control technique is shown in simulations for a large angle maneuver corresponding to a satellite rotation about a fixed axis.