Global fast terminal sliding mode control of space manipulator for capturing a tumbling satellite

In order to capture and rescue a tumbling satellite, a space manipulator is required to track the trajectory of the capturing port of the target satellite, synchronously. This paper focuses on the control scheme of space manipulator for tracking and capturing a tumbling target satellite. First, the kinematic and dynamic equations of the space manipulator are derived, and the desired trajectory for capturing the target satellite is planned. Then, a global fast terminal sliding mode (GFTSM) control scheme is developed to enhance the system robustness against uncertainties and guarantee the tracking errors converge to the equilibriums in finite time. Furthermore, the stability of the control scheme is proved without the assumption of nonsingular inertia matrix, and the convergence time of the tracking errors is analyzed quantitatively. Finally, a numerical simulation is performed and the results verify that the GFTSM control scheme is effective for space manipulator to capture a tumbling satellite.