Optimisation of controller reconfiguration instant for spacecraft control systems with additive actuator faults

Abstract

This paper aims to propose a method of optimising the controller reconfiguration (CR) instant for spacecraft control systems with additive actuator faults. Due to severe resource constraints, it is ‘expensive’ for spacecraft to handle the faults in orbit. To overcome the constraints, we try to reduce the CR cost from a perspective of time management. The basic idea of this method is to propose a reconfigurability evaluation index to quantify the capability of the fault system in maintaining admissible performance by CR measures, and then to derive the mathematical relationship between the reconfigurability index and four crucial instants during the CR process. Based on this, the CR instant is optimised by maximising the reconfigurability index. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated through an example. The results show that by enhancing the time management efficiency during the CR process, the limited resources can be economised to some extent.