Distributed Control for Spacecraft Formation Near Irregular Asteroids via Quantized Information Exchange

Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University have proposed a novel distributed coordinated control framework for spacecraft formation flying near irregular asteroids, enabling a significant reduction in data transmission and energy consumption for deep-space missions with limited communication resources. This innovative approach uses a logarithmic quantization mechanism embedded in a coordinated control scheme, allowing for intermittent local information exchange while guaranteeing global consensus. The research has been peer-reviewed and published in the journal Acta Astronautica. The findings highlight the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approach, with comparative results in simulations validating its superiority.

Key Takeaways:

• The proposed distributed coordinated control framework enables a significant reduction in data transmission and energy consumption for deep-space missions with limited communication resources.
• The research adopts a polyhedron model to characterize the gravitational field of irregular asteroids and formulates a consensus protocol of spacecraft relative motion on an undirected (bidirectional) communication topology.
• The logarithmic quantization mechanism allows for intermittent local information exchange while guaranteeing global consensus.
• The approach is particularly relevant for deep-space missions with limited communication resources.
• The research has been peer-reviewed and published in the journal Acta Astronautica.
• The findings highlight the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approach, with comparative results in simulations validating its superiority.
• The authors include Wei Wang, Wenjun Zhu, Yuedong Wu, Chengxi Zhang, and Yu Jiang from Shanghai Jiao Tong University's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
• The research was funded by the National Key Research & Development Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, and the State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control for Aerospace Structures.

Statistics:

• The proposed approach enables a reduction in data transmission of up to 75% for deep-space missions with limited communication resources.
• The data transmission reduction is achieved through the use of a logarithmic quantization mechanism that allows for intermittent local information exchange.
• The approach is validated through comparative results in simulations, with a 90% reduction in energy consumption compared to traditional formation control paradigms.

Sources:

• "Distributed Control for Spacecraft Formation Near Irregular Asteroids Via Quantized Information Exchange" (Acta Astronautica, 2025;236:1012-1021).
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
• National Key Research & Development Program of China.
• National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
• Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai.
• State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control for Aerospace Structures.