Nonlinear Control Problems for Rest-to-Rest Maneuvers of Multi-Body Vehicles using Prismatic Actuators

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PROJECT SUMMARYPage AThis proposal describes a novel research program on nonlinear control of multi-bodyvehicles operating under the action of gravitational forces and control forces generatedby prismatic actuators. Multi-body vehicles are mechanical systems consisting of a rigidbase body that can translate and rotate in three dimensions and auxiliary bodies that areconstrained to move relative to the base body and to one another. The multi-body vehiclesare controlled using prismatic actuator devices, mounted on the base body. These arelinear electromechanical actuators that move a proof mass along a track fixed to the basebody. This is a novel actuation technology that has great potential for providing newmaneuvering capabilities, namely precision translation and global attitude maneuvers, formulti-body vehicles. On the other hand, the design and operation of such multi-bodyvehicles present many challenges since they are not fully actuated in the sense that thereare fewer control inputs than there are degrees of freedom to be controlled. Key aspectsof the proposed research, from which arise the major research challenges, are: (1) thepresence of controlled mechanical symmetries and their associated integrals of motion and(2) the objective of achieving arbitrary rest to rest maneuvers for the multi-bodyvehicles.Although some nonlinear control problems for multi-body mechanical systems are relativelysimple, the problems posed in this research can not be adequately handled based on thecurrent state of knowledge. The proposed research is the culmination of the NSF supportedresearch of the principal investigator over the last fourteen years. It represents anextension of his previous research on nonlinear control of constrained and underactuatedmechanical systems to new problems that have not previously been amenable to study usingtraditional nonlinear control methods. The expected contributions of the proposedresearch are: (1) the development of nonlinear control theory for the class of multi-bodyvehicles studied, (2) the development of innovative new system design and controlstrategies for multi-body vehicles, and (3) educational impacts through studentparticipation in the research. The research concepts are to be applied to maneuveringvehicles operating in space or under water, and they are ideally suited for small-scaleintelligent autonomous sensor systems operating in space or under water. The proposedresearch has the potential to provide new and enhanced maneuvering capabilities formulti-body vehicles, thereby contributing to the overall engineering infrastructure intransportation, exploration, remote sensing, and surveillance.