Rapid attitude maneuver of the space tether net capture system using active disturbance rejection control

The space tether net capture system is a spacecraft system with a mounting tether net for capturing targets. It has the advantages of reusability and the adaptability to capture varying targets with different geometries or flying-motion statuses. However, due to its flexible tether net, the system shows strong nonlinearity, which makes it difficult to achieve the desired control performance for rapid and accurate maneuvering; moreover, this limits the ability of the tether net system to capture fast-moving targets. This paper focused on the maneuver controller design of the space capture system with a large flexible tether net. Firstly, based on the absolute node coordinate method, the dynamic model of the space tether net system is established, which can accurately describe the geometric and material nonlinearities of the space tether net. Then, a two-loop active disturbance rejection control is proposed for the rapid and high-precision maneuvering of the flexible system; meanwhile the second-order extended state observer is designed to estimate and compensate for the tether net vibration disturbance. The simulation validated the proposed control, which could complete the rapid and accurate maneuvering and also compensate for the disturbance caused by the vibration of the flexible tether net.