Control parameters design of spacecraft formation flying via modified biogeography-based optimization

Abstract

For spacecraft formation flying (SFF) missions, effective control of relative motion is a critical issue. This paper investigates the problem of feedback parameters design in the trajectory tracking controller of SFF. To overcome the difficulty in manual parameters adjustment, a modified biogeography-based optimization (M-BBO) algorithm is employed by transforming the parameters tuning into an optimization problem. In the developed M-BBO, the new component is a hybrid operator, where the search mechanism of grasshopper optimization algorithm is integrated into the migration operation of biogeography-based optimization (BBO). It helps M-BBO to achieve a better balance between exploitation and exploration abilities, thereby facilitating the generation of promising candidate solutions. During the optimization process, the performance indicator is a linear weighted function that considers the tracking error and fuel consumption of the SFF controller. Simulation results show that the parameters obtained via M-BBO ensure accurate control at low cost, and comparative experiments with other versions of BBO are conducted to prove M-BBO’s merit in terms of convergence performance.