An adaptive control system for fine pointing of flexible spacecraft

An adaptive control system for fine pointing of a flexible spacecraft is designed. A least squares algorithm is used to simultaneously identify unknown states and parameters of a discrete-time lumped-parameter model of the flexible structure. The identified states and parameters form the input to a bang-off-bang control law that, in conjunction with the identification algorithm, results in an adaptive system whose response closely approximates that of a system with known parameters. Simulation studies demonstrate the response achievable with the proposed approach.