Finite-time fault tolerant control for spacecraft using sliding mode method

The problem of spacecraft attitude tracking control for actuator faults/failures and external disturbances is addressed in this paper. Assuming that information on external disturbances is unknown, a finite time sliding mode (FTSM) control law is developed to handle actuator faults/failures. Under the constraint conditions including the actuator faults and external disturbance, stability analysis shows that the designed controller not only ensures the attitude tracking convergence in finite time, but also has superior to actuator fault tolerance. Finally, in order to illustrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed control law, the numerical simulations are carried out for spacecraft under actuator faults and disturbances.