Friction estimation technique for Galileo scan platform control

A friction estimation technique has been developed for the scan platform control of the Galileo spacecraft. The purpose of the estimation is to reduce the impact of friction in the scan platform actuator on the pointing performance of the scan platform so that tight pointing requirements can be met. The estimator operates by comparing the actual behavior of the platform with the expected behavior and attributing the difference to the presence of friction. The estimator is coupled with a proportional-integral-derivative controller to generate a control torque for the scan platform actuator. Since the algorithm will be implemented on an onboard digital computer, a stability analysis of the estimator-controller in discrete time is presented. The performance of the design is demonstrated by a sample slew test case.