Past Event! Note: this event has already taken place.
Research Seminars
June 15, 2018 at 1:30 PM
| Location: | 3124 Mackenzie |
| Cost: | Free |
Speaker: David Rogers, MASc Student
Abstract: Actively removing space debris is an important area of research. Typically, the proposed solutions involve a chaser spacecraft performing a rendezvous maneuver with a target, capturing it with a robotic arm and towing it down to a low altitude. Actively controlling the chaser spacecraft as it increases its mass (due to the robotic capture of a debris), as well as being robust to various perturbations, is a non-trivial task. This talk will present the use of simple adaptive control (SAC) as a solution to the problem of trajectory tracking under parametric uncertainties and perturbations. Simulation and experimental results both demonstrate the improved trajectory tracking performance of SAC in comparison to a non-adaptive PD control.
Speaker: Abin Alex Pothen, MASc Student
Abstract: The accumulation of space debris in lower earth orbits poses increased risk of collision with satellites in the useful orbits. Developing methods to actively remove debris is a key area of research. Typically, the methods involve understanding the highly non-linear nature of dynamics of the tumbling debris in space and using spacecraft to tug them onto a lower orbit. In a lower earth orbit, the debris burn up under the effect of atmospheric friction. A new perspective on multi-body constrained dynamics called the Udwadia-Kalaba framework seems to give potential solutions that could both predict and control tumbling of a body which is attached to a set of discrete masses onto which the control is effected. This talk will focus on introducing this new area of research and discuss as to how this perspective could potentially be applied for active debris removal.