Propellant Sloshing Torque H∞ – based Observer Design for Enhanced Attitude Control

Abstract

Abstract In this paper a control-oriented LPV model of the sloshing torque arising during attitude maneuvers, supported by Computational Fluid Dynamics results, is presented and used for attitude control design. The proposed strategy essentially relies on the design of a robust LPV-based disturbance torque observer with the help of the structured multi-model H∞ synthesis framework. The estimated torque is then used to improve a satisfying attitude controller initially designed without sloshing. The stability of the parameter-varying closed-loop system is finally proved with quadratic Lyapunov functions.