On the Global Behavior of a Geometric PDAV Controller by Means of a Geometrically Exact Linearization
Abstract A complex motion encountered in a number of robotic, industrial and defense applications is the motion of a rigid body when one of its body-fixed axes tracks a desired Pointing Direction while it rotates at high Angular Velocity around the pointing direction (PDAV); during this motion high frequency precession/nutation oscillations arise. This work analyzes the global/local closed-loop behavior induced by a developed geometric, PDAV controller and studies the high frequency precession/nutation oscillations that characterize PDAV motions. This is done via geometrically-exact linearization and via simulation techniques that amount to charting the smooth closed-loop vector fields on the manifold. A method to quickly estimate the frequency of the precession/nutation oscillations is developed and can be used for sizing actuators. A thorough understanding of the behavior of the closed-loop flow induced by the PDAV controller is achieved, allowing the control engineer to anticipate/have a rough estimate of the system closed-loop response.