Combined control for active debris removal using a satellite equipped with a robot arm

Abstract

This work discusses the controller design and simulation for Active Debris Removal (ADR) based
\non the e.Deorbit scenario using a chaser satellite with a seven axis robot arm to capture and deorbit
\nthe inactive ENVISAT satellite, which endangers other satellites in its orbit. The relative high
\nangular velocity and high mass of the target satellite leads to a challenging control problem for
\nthe chaser satellite and its robot arm. To achieve accurate and robust performance for the ADR a
\ncombined controller is designed using a multi-stage and multi-objective design and optimization
\nprocedure. The combined controller is able to control all degrees of freedom of the chaser satellite
\nand robot arm simultaneously. To verify this control approach, high fidelity models of the scenario
\nwere developed and used within an advanced GNC simulation tool. Important aspects such as
\ndetailed thruster models, flexibility of the targets solar panel and robot arm were considered in
\naddition to fuel sloshing and other orbital disturbance forces. Simulation results show that the
\ndeveloped combined controller is able to achieve good precision and robustness for important
\nphases of the ADR scenario.