Spacecraft Swarm Attitude Control for Small Body Surface Observation. (arXiv:1902.02084v1 [astro-ph.IM])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Nallapu_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ravi Nallapu</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Thangavelautham_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jekan Thangavelautham</a>
Understanding the physics of small bodies such as asteroids, comets, and
planetary moons will help us understand the formation of the solar system, and
also provide us with resources for a future space economy. Due to these
reasons, missions to small bodies are actively being pursued. However, the
surfaces of small bodies contain unpredictable and interesting features such as
craters, dust, and granular matter, which need to be observed carefully before
a lander mission is even considered. This presents the need for a surveillance
spacecraft to observe the surface of small bodies where these features exist.
While traditionally, the small body exploration has been performed by a large
monolithic spacecraft, a group of small, low-cost spacecraft can enhance the
observational value of the mission. Such a spacecraft swarm has the advantage
of providing longer observation time and is also tolerant to single point
failures. In order to optimize a space-craft swarm mission design, we proposed
the Integrated Design Engineering & Automation of Swarms (IDEAS) software which
will serve as an end-to-end tool for theoretical swarm mission design. The
current work will focus on developing the Automated Swarm Designer module of
the IDEAS software by extending its capabilities for exploring surface features
on small bodies while focusing on the attitude behaviors of the spacecraft in
the swarm. We begin by classifying space-craft swarms into 5 classes based on
the level of coordination. In the current work, we design Class 2 swarms, whose
spacecraft operate in a decentralized fashion but coordinate for communication.
We demonstrate the Class 2 swarm in 2 different configurations, based on the
roles of the participating spacecraft.
Understanding the physics of small bodies such as asteroids, comets, and
planetary moons will help us understand the formation of the solar system, and
also provide us with resources for a future space economy. Due to these
reasons, missions to small bodies are actively being pursued. However, the
surfaces of small bodies contain unpredictable and interesting features such as
craters, dust, and granular matter, which need to be observed carefully before
a lander mission is even considered. This presents the need for a surveillance
spacecraft to observe the surface of small bodies where these features exist.
While traditionally, the small body exploration has been performed by a large
monolithic spacecraft, a group of small, low-cost spacecraft can enhance the
observational value of the mission. Such a spacecraft swarm has the advantage
of providing longer observation time and is also tolerant to single point
failures. In order to optimize a space-craft swarm mission design, we proposed
the Integrated Design Engineering & Automation of Swarms (IDEAS) software which
will serve as an end-to-end tool for theoretical swarm mission design. The
current work will focus on developing the Automated Swarm Designer module of
the IDEAS software by extending its capabilities for exploring surface features
on small bodies while focusing on the attitude behaviors of the spacecraft in
the swarm. We begin by classifying space-craft swarms into 5 classes based on
the level of coordination. In the current work, we design Class 2 swarms, whose
spacecraft operate in a decentralized fashion but coordinate for communication.
We demonstrate the Class 2 swarm in 2 different configurations, based on the
roles of the participating spacecraft.
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