Decentralized finite-time attitude synchronization for multiple rigid spacecraft via a novel disturbance observer

This paper investigates decentralized finite-time attitude synchronization for a group of rigid spacecraft by using quaternion with the consideration of environmental disturbances, inertia uncertainties and actuator saturation. Nonsingular terminal sliding mode (TSM) is used for controller design. Firstly, a theorem is proven that there always exists a kind of TSM that converges faster than fast terminal sliding mode (FTSM) for quaternion-descripted attitude control system. Controller with this kind of TSM has faster convergence and reduced computation than FTSM controller. Then, combining with an adaptive parameter estimation strategy, a novel terminal sliding mode disturbance observer is proposed. The proposed disturbance observer needs no upper bound information of the lumped uncertainties or their derivatives. On the basis of undirected topology and the disturbance observer, decentralized attitude synchronization control laws are designed and all attitude errors are ensured to converge to small regions in finite time. As for actuator saturation problem, an auxiliary variable is introduced and accommodated by the disturbance observer. Finally, simulation results are given and the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is testified.