Inverse optimal stabilization of a rigid spacecraft

Abstract | We present an approach for constructing optimal feedback control laws for regulation of a rotating rigid spacecraft. We employ the inverse optimal control approach which circumvents the task of solving a Hamilton-Jacobi equation and results in a controller optimal with respect to a meaningful cost functional. The inverse optimality approach requires the knowledge of a control Lyapunov function and a stabilizing control law of a particular form. For the spacecraft problem, they are both constructed using the method of integrator backstepping. We give acharacterization of (nonlinear) stability margins achieved with the inverse optimal control law. Keywords|Attitude control, stabilization, inverse optimality, stability margins, backstepping. I