Decentralized Control Experiments on the JPL Flexible Spacecraft

The complexity of present and envisaged space structures dictates the need for many experimental studies verifying different system analysis and control design techniques. The JPL/AFAL Flexible Spacecraft Control Dynamics Simulator is a labscale model for a large antenna-like flexible structure. It shows many of the characteristics of large space-based structures and provides challenging problems to the control designer. In this paper we will detail the decentralized controller design process, from finite element model to implementation, for a large flexible structure and give results of the actual implementations on the structure.