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arXiv · 2504.04312

Prescribed-Time Boresight Control of Spacecraft Under Pointing Constraints

Xiaodong Shao·Haoyang Yang·Haoran Li·Zongyu Zuo·Jose Guadalupe Romero·Qinglei Hu
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Abstract

This article proposes an integrated boresight guidance and control (IBGC) scheme to address the boresight reorientation problem of spacecraft under temporal and pointing constraints. A $C^1$ continuous, saturated prescribed-time adjustment (PPTA) function is presented, along with the establishment of a practical prescribed-time stability criterion. Utilizing the time scale transformation technique and the PPTA function, we propose a prescribed-time guidance law that guides the boresight vector from almost any initial orientation in free space to a small neighborhood of the goal orientation within a preassigned time, while avoiding all forbidden zones augmented with safety margins. Subsequently, a prescribed-time disturbance observer (PTDO) is derived to reconstruct the external disturbances. By leveraging barrier and PPTA functions, a PTDO-based reduced-attitude tracking controller is developed, which ensures prescribed-time boresight tracking within a ``safe tube''. By judiciously setting the safety margins, settling times, and safe tube for the guidance and control laws, the proposed IBGC scheme achieves pointing-constrained boresight reorientation within a required task completion time. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed IBGC scheme.

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Xiaodong Shao, Haoyang Yang, Haoran Li, Zongyu Zuo, Jose Guadalupe Romero, Qinglei Hu. 2025-08-01. Prescribed-Time Boresight Control of Spacecraft Under Pointing Constraints. https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.04312

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