Engineering topics

Wang, P. K. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Wang, P. K. C..

24 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1985

Automatic assembly of space stations

A problem in the automatic assembly of space stations is the determination of guidance laws for the terminal rendezvous and docking of two structural components or modules. The problem involves the feedback control of both the relative attitude and translational motion of the modules. A suitable mathematical model based on rigid body dynamics was used. The basic requirements, physical constraints and difficulties associated with the control problem are discussed. An approach which bypasses some of the difficulties is proposed. A nonlinear guidance law satisfying the basic requirements is derived. The implementation requirements is discussed. The performance of the resulting feedback control system with rigid and flexible structural components is studied by computer simulation.

Wang, P. K. C.↗

NASA NTRS1985

A robust nonlinear attitude control law for space stations with flexible structural components

In this paper, a nonlinear attitude control law for space stations with flexible structural components is derived using a rigid-body model. This control law, depending on the Cayley-Rodriguez parameters, globally stabilizes the equilibrium of the rigid-body model. The effect of elastic deformations of the flexible structural components on the resulting feedback system dynamics is analyzed. It is found that the system's stability property is highly robust with respect to structural vibrations and inertial variations. The time-domain behavior of the feedback system is studied numerically using a model of a typical space station with flexible solar panels.

Wang, P. K. C.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Control of reflector vibrations in large spaceborne antennas by means of movable dampers

A simple approach to the design of feedback controls for damping the vibrations in large spaceborne antennas with flexible dish reflectors is proposed. The feedback controls consist of movable velocity-feedback dampers whose positions are determined by minimizing the rate of change of total vibrational energy at any time. The performance of the proposed feedback controls is studied via computer simulations.

Wang, P. K. C.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Control of antenna-feed attitude and reflector vibrations in large spaceborne antennas by mechanical decoupling and movable dampers

Simple, practical methods for damping reflector vibrations and designing antenna-feed attitude control systems in large deployable spaceborne antennas are proposed. The former involves a movable damper which is positioned so that the rate-of-change of total vibrational energy is minimized. The latter introduces a mechanical decoupler between the flexible boom and the antenna-feed, whereby the feed-attitude control system can be designed independent of boom dynamics. The validity of these approaches are substantiated by analytical studies, computer simulation, and experimental studies.

Wang, P. K. C.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Control of large spaceborne antenna systems with flexible booms by mechanical decoupling

A simple practical method for designing antenna-feed attitude control systems for large deployable spaceborne antenna systems with long flexible booms is proposed. The basic idea is to mechanically decouple the antenna-feed from the boom so that the feed-attitude control system can be designed without taking the boom dynamics into consideration, thus avoiding a complex control problem involving an infinite-dimensional distributed parameter system. The validity of the proposed method is substantiated by analytical and numerical studies using a mathematical model for the flexible boom which could undergo both bending and torsional vibrations. This approach leads to simple antenna-feed attitude control systems which are amenable to physical implementation.

Wang, P. K. C.↗

NASA NTRS1982

A decoupling approach to the control of large spaceborne antenna systems

A simple practical method for designing antenna-feed positioning control systems for large deployable spaceborne antenna systems with flexible booms is proposed. The approach is based on the mechanical decoupling of the antenna-feed from the boom so that the positioning control system can be designed without taking boom dynamics into consideration, thus avoiding a complex infinite dimensional control problem. The basic idea is illustrated by a simple angular positional control system attached to a flexible boom restricted to torsional motion only. The application of this approach to more complex situations is discussed briefly.

Wang, P. K. C.↗