Adaptive fast terminal sliding mode control based barrier Lyapunov function for rigid spacecraft attitude maneuvering

Abstract In this paper, an adaptive fast terminal sliding mode control based barrier Lyapunov function (ABLFFTSMC) method with the prescribed performance disturbance observer (PPDO) is developed for rapid attitude maneuvering of a rigid spacecraft subject to input saturation and external disturbances. First of all, a PPDO is designed to construct the sum value of external disturbances and the unmodeled part in the spacecraft system. Subsequently, by integrating the PPDO output estimations, the ABLFFTSMC is designed. In this strategy, the fast terminal sliding mode control method is used to handle the input saturation constraint, and the BLF function is incorporated to ensure that the sliding mode surface remains within a predefined region. Meanwhile, an adaptive component is constructed to compensate for the disturbance estimation error effects. Furthermore, according to the Lyapunov theory, the stability of the rigid spacecraft under the proposed ABLFFTSMC is proven. Additionally, the effectiveness of the designed ABLFFTSMC scheme is demonstrated through numerical simulations, and the superiority and accuracy are illustrated by comparison with other methods.