Robust H ∞ vibration control for smart solar array structure

Abstract

The multi-panel deployable solar array structure is the most common system utilized for spacecraft power system. To effectively suppress vibration of the solar array structure is still a challenging task. The present works focus on dynamic modeling and robust H∞ vibration control for a large flexible spacecraft solar array structure using piezoelectric actuators and velocity sensors. The structural dynamic model of the solar array structure with piezoelectric actuators is generated by using finite element techniques. The order of the system is reduced by employing Modal Hankel Singular Value method. Based on Linear Matrix Inequality technique, a robust H∞ dynamic output feedback controller is designed to suppress the vibrations caused by external disturbances. The simulation results show that the vibration can be significantly suppressed with permitted actuator voltages by the controller. The robust H∞ controller can avoid the spillover due to mode truncation. © 2010 The Author(s).