Preliminary structural control results from the Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE)

Abstract

Results are presented of on-going closed-loop ground experiments on the MACE test article, the objective of which is to investigate the extent to which closed-loop behavior of flexible spacecraft in zero gravity can be predicted, as well as to examine orbit system identification and control reconfiguration. The MACE hardware consists of three torque wheels, a two-axis gimballing payload, inertial sensors, and a flexible support structure. With the acquisition of a second payload, this is to represent a multiple payload platform with significant structural flexibility. When linear quadratic Gaussian control is used, payload pointing accuracy is improved by an order of magnitude when disturbed by a broadband torque disturbance. The successes and failures of the design and implementation process are discussed.