Attitude synchronization of multiple spacecraft with finite-time convergence

In this paper, we consider the consensus problem of multiple spacecraft attitudes, to achieve the identical orientation within finite settling time. Based on the adding a power integrator designed method, a continuous finite-time coordinated controller is proposed, which relies on the relative attitude information with respect to neighboring agents. The final consensus attitude equilibrium has nearly global stability with finite-time convergence. Compared with the existing design, we have the explicit expression of the finite settling time via constructing a proper Lyapunov function, also, the novel feature consists in the fact that the unit quaternion description is the first used for finite-time multiple spacecraft attitude consensus, while the local relative attitude information is obtained via its natural nonlinear manifold, i.e., the Lie Group with non-convex property. Simulation of a spacecraft formation is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of our theoretical results.