Coupled 6-DOF Control for Distributed Aerospace Systems

In this paper, we investigate the problem of simultaneously controlling both attitude and position of a network of collaborative aerospace vehicles. In particular, we use unit dual quaternions to model the coupled rotational and translational motion present in many applications. We then derive a simple PD-like feedback controller that simultaneously stabilizes the attitude and position of all vehicles in the network. The analysis reveals global asymptotic stability using LaSalle's invariance principle. We discuss various applications of the control design framework and provide a numerical example of a spacecraft landing on a moving platform. This example demonstrates the utility of the proposed approach to 6-degree-of-freedom multiagent coordination that can be achieved with a single framework.