Robust PID controller design for rigid uncertain spacecraft using Kharitonov theorem and vectored particle swarm optimization

This paper presents a robust Proportional Integral Derivative controller design methodology for three axis attitude control of a rigid spacecraft with parametric uncertainty using a combination of Kharitonov theorem and vectored particle swarm optimization based approaches. A controller is designed for each of the three axes using a systematic graphical approach. Here, a plot of the stability boundary loci in the integral gain versus proportional gain parameter plane, for the specified gain and phase margins for each of the Kharitonov interval plants is used to determine the region representing the set of all PID controllers that satisfy the desired performance and stability requirements. Vectored particle swarm optimization technique is used to determine the optimized proportional and integral gain values. The spacecraft attitude control system is simulated using Matlab-Simulink tool which shows that the designed controller provides stability, robustness, good reference pointing and disturbance rejection for perturbations within the specific bounds.