Output Attitude Control of Flexible Spacecraft from Quaternion Measures: A Passiûity Approach

Abstract. In this work, we propose a dynamic controller for a spacecraft with flexible appendages and based on attitude measure-ments. This control ensures the asymptotic fulfillment of the objectives in the case of rest-to-rest maneuvers when a failure occurs on the accelerometer sensors, so that the angular velocity is not available for feedback. Also, it is assumed that the modal variables describing the flexible elements are not measured. This is a lower level controller and is to be selected at the higher level by a supervisor when an emergency situation is detected. Key Words. Output control, passive control, flexible spacecraft. 1