Attitude synchronization of satellites with internal actuation

Much of the work in the area of attitude synchronization of multiple satellites is focused on satellites with external actuators. In this paper we focus on satellites that are actuated by internal actuation mechanisms, like momentum wheels or rotors. The distinguishing aspect of the internal actuation case is that the dynamics are described on a level set of the angular momentum map. We propose a control law to achieve asymptotic attitude synchronization of multiple satellites actuated by internal rotors. The sensing strategy for the satellites is as follows: The first satellite has information about the desired attitude. All other satellites have relative attitude information with respect to their immediate neighbours. The control law is designed using the notion of potential energy shaping that rests on the use of modified trace functions.