Parameter Optimization of Spacecraft Attitude Controller using Ant Lion Optimizer

This paper aims at designing an energy-efficient state feedback control law for attitude regulation of a rigid spacecraft system. The desired feedback control structure is achieved through a Lyapunov theory-based approach. To further ensure minimum energy consumption, the gains of the proposed controller are determined by solving an optimization problem using a meta-heuristic method called Ant Lion optimization. The Lyapunov analysis proves the asymptotic convergence of system states. In this paper, the inherent demerit of unwinding in quaternion-based attitude representation has also been addressed. It has been proved that under the proposed control action, the spacecraft avoids unnecessarily large maneuvering path to reach the desired orientation, thereby exhibiting an anti-unwinding property. The validation and the effectiveness of the proposed controller have been illustrated with the help of numerical simulations under different initial conditions.