Control of the vibrations of a tethered satellite system

A method of damping structural vibrations using optimization techniques is presented and applied to a tethered satellite system. Such systems show lar ge displacements and require active or passive damping mechanisms. A tether ed satellite system is modelled by the method of multibody systems using sy mbolic equations of motion. Active damping is provided by an actuator betwe en the main body and the tether. The control parameters are optimized. The energy decay of the system is used as the performance criterion. The comple x dynamics of the motion of this system are demonstrated in simulations wit h different initial conditions including structural vibrations. It is shown that an optimization process enables the control parameters be improved wi th respect to the dissipation of energy of longitudinal structural vibratio ns. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.