Boundary control design for vibration suppression and attitude control of flexible satellites with multi-section appendages

Attitude and vibration control of a general form of flexible satellites is addressed in this paper. Partial differential dynamic equations are derived considering new details such as multi sectioned solar panels and elastic connections between main hub and solar panels. Boundary control approach is adopted to eliminate simplification errors of discrete models, using just one actuator in the hub. Asymptotic stability of attitude dynamics is proved for a group of boundary controllers and necessary conditions for asymptotic stability of vibrations are discussed. Being independent of modeling accuracy and using easily measurable feedbacks are among advantages of the proposed class of controllers. Through simulations using FEM technique and a controller with the least number of boundary feedback parameters, good performance of the introduced method is illustrated.