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Satellite formation keeping via chaotic artificial bee colony

Soyinka Olukunle Kolawole (School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, China)
Duan Haibin (School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, China)

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology

ISSN: 0002-2667

Article publication date: 6 March 2017

229

Abstract

Purpose

Keeping satellite position within close tolerances is key for the utilization of satellite formations for space missions. The presence of perturbation forces makes control inevitable if such mission objective is to be realised. Various approaches have been used to obtain feedback controller parameters for satellites in a formation; this paper aims to approach the problem of estimating the optimal feedback parameter for a leader–follower pair of satellites in a small eccentric orbit using nature-based search algorithms.

Design/methodology/approach

The chaotic artificial bee colony algorithm is a variant of the basic artificial bee colony algorithm. The algorithm mimics the behaviour of bees in their search for food sources. This paper uses the algorithm in optimizing feedback controller parameters for a satellite formation control problem. The problem is formulated to optimize the controller parameters while minimizing a fuel- and state-dependent cost function. The dynamical model of the satellite is based on Gauss variational equations with J2 perturbation. Detailed implementation of the procedure is provided, and experimental results of using the algorithm are also presented to show feasibility of the method.

Findings

The experimental results indicate the feasibility of this approach, clearly showing the effective control of the transients that arise because of J2 perturbation.

Originality/value

This paper applied a swarm intelligence approach to the problem of estimating optimal feedback control parameter for a pair of satellites in a formation.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant #61273054 and #61175109, and National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Project) under Grant #2014CB046401.

Citation

Olukunle Kolawole, S. and Haibin, D. (2017), "Satellite formation keeping via chaotic artificial bee colony", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 89 No. 2, pp. 246-256. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-02-2014-0019

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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