CONVEX OPTIMIZATION AND CONTROL OF AGGREGATING AND DISAGGREGATING SPACECRAFT

Abstract

The work of this thesis develops an algorithm that can calculate optimized control trajectories for a swarm of disaggregated spacecraft. The trajectories were optimized around multiple obstacles using sequential convex programming. A novel approach of combining obstacles was used to ensure the problem remained convex in all circumstances. The MATLAB extension CVX and the solver Interior Point Optimizer (IPOPT) were used to develop the algorithm through MATLAB and C programming languages. A real-time trajectory guidance optimization algorithm was successfully implemented on three disaggregated spacecraft maneuvering around a fixed obstacle in a simulated environment and on a single Floating Spacecraft Simulator in a hardware experiment.