Analysis of a control system containing two nonlinearities
Parameter plane method of stability analysis applied to spacecraft attitude control system with two nonlinearities related by nonlinear differential equation
SEARCH · Search NASA
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Parameter plane method of stability analysis applied to spacecraft attitude control system with two nonlinearities related by nonlinear differential equation
A method for performing an absolute stability analysis of attitude control systems for large launch vehicles is presented. Absolute stability of these systems is shown to be of a limited extent. The regions of absolute stability are computed by using a quadratic Liapunov function. The function is chosen to provide additional information about the exponential property of absolute stability. A system model is used to illustrate the method.
OSO-E1 prelaunch analysis and attitude control system
Package of five computer programs developed to assist in design and analysis of linear control systems by use of root-locus and frequency-response methods. Package written in FORTRAN (BODE, TPEAK) and BASIC (LOCUS, KTUNE, and POLYROOT).
A review of analytical methods and associated tools for active controls analysis and design problems is presented. Approaches employed to develop mathematical models suitable for control system analysis and/or design are discussed. Significant efforts have been expended to develop tools to generate the models from the standpoint of control system designers' needs and develop the tools necessary to analyze and design active control systems. Representative examples of these tools are discussed. Examples where results from the methods and tools have been compared with experimental data are also presented. Finally, a perspective on future trends in analysis and design methods is presented.
A review of analytical methods and associated tools for active controls analysis and design problems is presented. Approaches employed to develop mathematical models suitable for control system analysis and/or design are discussed. Significant efforts have been expended to develop tools to generate the models from the standpoint of control system designers' needs and to develop the tools necessary to analyze and design active control systems. Representative examples of these tools are discussed. Examples where results from the methods and tools have been compared with experimental data are also presented. Finally, a perspective on future trends in analysis and design methods is presented.
Military operations, counter-terrorism operations and emergency response often oblige operators and commanders to operate within distributed organizations and systems for safe and effective mission accomplishment. Tactical commanders and operators frequently encounter violent threats and critical demands on cognitive capacity and reaction time. In the future they will make decisions in situations where operational and system characteristics are highly dynamic and non-linear, i.e. minor events, decisions or actions may have serious and irreversible consequences for the entire mission. Commanders and other decision makers must manage true real time properties at all levels; individual operators, stand-alone technical systems, higher-order integrated human-machine systems and joint operations forces alike. Coping with these conditions in performance assessment, system development and operational testing is a challenge for both practitioners and researchers. This paper reports on research from which the results led to a breakthrough: An integrated approach to information-centered systems analysis to support future command and control systems research development. This approach integrates several areas of research into a coherent framework, Action Control Theory (ACT). It comprises measurement techniques and methodological advances that facilitate a more accurate and deeper understanding of the operational environment, its agents, actors and effectors, generating new and updated models. This in turn generates theoretical advances. Some good examples of successful approaches are found in the research areas of cognitive systems engineering, systems theory, and psychophysiology, and in the fields of dynamic, distributed decision making and naturalistic decision making.
The QR computer program is described as well as its use in classical control systems analysis and synthesis (root locus, time response, and frequency response).
Correct pointing direction and scanning motions are essential in the operation of many flight payloads, such as balloon-borne telescopes and space-based X- ray and gamma-ray telescopes. Rotating unbalanced mass (RUM) devices have been recently proposed, implemented and successfully tested to produce a variety of scanning motions. Linear scans, raster scans, and circular scans have been successfully generated on a gimbaled payload using pairs of RUM devices. Theoretical analysis, computer simulations, and experiments have also been used to study the feasibility of using RUM devices to control instrument pointing direction, in addition to generating scanning motion. Dynamic modeling of a gimbaled payload equipped with a pair of RUM devices has been studied, and preliminary testing indicates that the pointing control is indeed feasible. However, there is also great potential for significant performance improvements through more advanced control system analysis, modeling and design. In this paper, modeling and control methods are described to achieve simultaneous scanning and pointing control of a gimbaled payload using rotating unbalance mass (RUM) devices. The model development work builds upon the results of Polites et al. and also some modeling approaches from robotics research. Results of some preliminary experiments are discussed and some nonlinear control methods will be proposed.
Stochastic robustness is a simple technique used to estimate the stability and performance robustness of linear, time-invariant systems. The use of high-speed graphics workstations and control system design software in stochastic robustness analysis is discussed and demonstrated. It is shown that stochastic robustness makes good use of modern computational and graphic tools, and it is easily implemented using commercial control system design and analysis software.
Analysis of condensing pressure control for SNAP-8 system
The Structural Dynamics Research Corporation and the NASA Lewis Research Center have been working together to develop tools and methods for the analysis of control/structure interaction problems related to the space station power systems. Flexible modes of the solar arrays below 0.1 Hz, suggest that even for relatively slow control systems, the potential for control/structure interaction exists. The emphasis of the effort has been to develop tools which couple NASTRAN's powerful capabilities in structural dynamics with EASY5's powerful capabilities in control systems analysis. One product is an interface software package called CO-ST-IN for COntrol-STructure-INteraction. CO-ST-IN acts to translate data between NASTRAN and EASY5, facilitating the analysis of complex coupled problems. Interfaces to SDRC I-DEAS and MATRIXx are also offered. Beside transferring standard modal information, CO-ST-IN implements a number of advanced methods. These include a modal ordering algorithm that helps eliminate uncontrollable or unobservable modes from the analysis, an implementation of the more accurate mode acceleration algorithm for recovery of element forces and stresses directly in EASY5 and an implementation of fixed interface modes in NASTRAN, which reduces the error in the closed-loop model due to the use of truncated mode sets.
An analysis of cryogenic fluid cooling in the environmental control system of the space shuttle was conducted. The technique for treating the cryogenic fluid storage and supply tanks and subsystems as integrated systems was developed. It was concluded that a basic incompatibility exists between the heat generated and the cryogen usage rate and cryogens cannot be used to absorb the generated heat. The use of radiators and accumulators to provide additional cooling capability is recommended.
Modal cost analysis furnishes a promising methodology for developing dynamical models of space structures for use in control systems analysis. Economy and accuracy can be attained by only retaining vibration modes that contribute significantly to an appropriately defined cost function. Expressions for modal costs (especially simple for 'lightly damped' structures) are derived for attitude control, vibration suppression, and shape control. These techniques are illustrated through application to a high-order finite element model of a large platform-type structure.
Improved process for development of flight-control software devised by integrating conventional software-development process with conventional control-system-analysis process. Reduces costs of development, eliminates need for reengineering, and almost eliminates production errors. Concept applicable to design of other control systems and of complicated hardware-and-software systems in general.
Regulation and control analysis of some internal human systems dynamics
The interactions that occur in human-teaming are inspiring novel aerospace designs aimed at improving how humans and machines, or multiple machines, work together. Unfortunately, current Systems Engineering processes are ill-equipped to handle these complex relationships and are unable to design and assure the safety for these systems. To close part of this gap, this paper introduces a novel system-theoretic analytical process to identify unsafe collaborative control actions. It is part of a broader set of techniques that extend the state-of-the-art in hazard analysis, System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA), to systematically address collaboration. The method rigorously expresses the different ways multiple commands may be unsafe together. Using Systems Theory, it employs abstraction to manage the combinatorial complexity in enumerating control contributions from multiple collaborating components. An algorithm integrates these concepts into an end-to-end process and is supported by automation to enumerate, refine, prune, and prioritize unsafe combinations of control actions. The output of the method feeds the specification of system requirements to implement safety-guided design starting early in concept development. The process is demonstrated on a manned-unmanned aircraft teaming case study and finds new causal factors that were not previously found in a past hazard analysis of the same system.
Computer program documentation and user manual for transient analysis attitude control propulsion systems