AOE 4140
Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
CRN 10335

Instructor:  Dr. Chris Hall, Randolph 215, 231-2314,
                        cdhall@vt.edu

Lectures:  M W F 11:15 – 12:05, Randolph 221

Office hours:  9:30 – 10:30 M W F (or by appointment)

Text:  Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Control, C. D. Hall, Lecture Notes posted on Handouts page.

Course Web Page:  Linked at http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~cdhall

Space missions and how pointing requirements affect attitude control systems.  Rotational kinematics and attitude determination algorithms.  Modeling and analysis of the attitude dynamics of space vehicles.  Rigid body dynamics, effects of energy dissipation.  Gravity gradient, spin, and dual spin stabilization.  Rotational maneuvers.  Environmental torques.  Impacts of attitude stabilization techniques on mission performance. 
Prerequisites:  AOE 4134 and AOE 3034.  (3H, 3C). This course is offered for both undergraduate and graduate credit (3 hours).

Goal:  To introduce students to the dynamics and control problems of pointing spacecraft.

Homework Policy:  There will be homework assignments approximately once per week, and the assignment will specify the due date.  Homework must be turned in to me at the beginning of the lecture hour on the due date.  Late homework will not normally be accepted.  Some computer work will be required; MatLab is recommended, and I will teach MatLab to interested students. 

Grading Policy:      Homework    20%
Midterm I      25%
Midterm II     25%
Final Exam    25%
Wild Card       5%

Honor Code: The University Honor Code will be maintained.  You are encouraged to discuss homework assignments with your instructor, teaching assistant, and classmates. However, all work submitted for a grade must reflect your own understanding of the material.  You may not copy answers to homework problems and you may not assist others or seek assistance on exams.

Topics:  (approximate number of lectures, text reference) Objective

Introduction and Overview of attitude control concepts  (2, Ch. 1 and Handout)
Identify the principal characteristics, applications, advantages and disadvantages of various attitude control concepts.

Mission Analysis (3, Ch. 2)
Understand the geometry of space mission analysis and how it applies to the attitude determination and control subsystem requirements and design.

Attitude Kinematics (4, Ch. 3)
Understand the description of attitude kinematics using reference frames, rotation matrices, Euler parameters, Euler angles, and quaternions. 

Attitude Determination (4, Ch. 4)
Understand the measurements required to determine the attitude of a spacecraft.  Understand basic attitude determination algorithms.

Rigid Body Dynamics (4, Ch. 5)
Understand the equations of motion for rigid bodies, including modeling assumptions, angular momentum, Euler's equations, moments of inertia, and the solutions for an axisymmetric body.

Satellite Attitude Dynamics (10, Ch. 6)
Know the environmental forces and moments affecting satellite motion.  Apply basic dynamics analysis to the attitude dynamics of spin, dual-spin, three-axis, and gravity gradient stabilized satellites, including the effects of energy dissipation.

Momentum Exchange Systems (4, Chs. 5 and 6)
Understand and apply basic relations for gyroscopic instruments and for reaction wheel (RW) and control moment gyro (CMG) control systems.  Understand the similarities and differences between RW and dual-spin systems.

Attitude Control (4, Ch. 8)
Understand the application of basic linear control theory to basic attitude control problems.

Possible Additional Topics:  Tethered satellites, Rotational maneuvers, Effects of flexibility and liquid fuel slosh

 

Other Spacecraft Dynamics Books:

V. V. Beletsky and E. M. Levin, Dynamics of Space Tether Systems, 1993, Univelt.
This is an excellent monograph on tethered spacecraft.  The second author drew all the illustrations of tethers.

V. A. Chobotov, Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Control, 1991, Orbit Books.
This book covers all the right topics, but the notational inconsistency and errors make it difficult to use.

P. C. Hughes, Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics, 1986, Wiley.
This is an excellent text on the attitude dynamics (no control) of rigid and “quasi-rigid” spacecraft, especially the stability analysis.  The author uses vector and tensor notation extensively.

T. R. Kane, P. W. Likins and D. A. Levinson, Spacecraft Dynamics, 1983, McGraw-Hill.
This book does several advanced topics using “Kanesian” dynamics.  If you haven’t studied his method, this is a bit of work.

M. H. Kaplan, Modern Spacecraft Dynamics & Control, 1976, Wiley. 
Comparable to Wiesel’s book.  Several advanced problems worked out in some detail.

L. Meirovitch, Methods of Analytical Dynamics, 1970, McGraw-Hill. 
The last couple of chapters of this book cover several spacecraft dynamics problems from the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian points of view.

F. P. J. Rimrott, Introductory Attitude Dynamics, 1989, Springer-Verlag. 
Similar to Hughes, except uses scalar notation.  Includes flexibility effects.

M. J. Sidi, Spacecraft Dynamics and Control, 1997, Cambridge. 
A “practical engineering approach” to both orbital and attitude dynamics and control.

W. T. Thomson, Introduction to Space Dynamics, 1986, Dover. 
An excellent and affordable introduction to a variety of topics in spacecraft dynamics.

J. R. Wertz, editor, Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control, 1978, D. Reidel.
This is a monumental tome written by many people.  It is quite application-oriented, with many examples.

W. E. Wiesel, Spaceflight Dynamics, McGraw-Hill, 2nd edition, 1997

 

The following journals publish papers on space dynamics:

          Acta Astronautica

          Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy

          IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control

          Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest

          Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics

          Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

          Journal of the Astronautical Sciences

          Journal of the British Interplanetary Society

          RCA Review

The following Proceedings series have papers on space dynamics:

          Advances in the Astronautical Sciences (American Astronautical Society)

          Progress in Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)