Attitude control of multiple rigid bodies with uncertainties and disturbances

Decentralized attitude synchronization and tracking control for multiple rigid bodies are investigated in this paper. In the presence of inertia uncertainties and environmental disturbances, we propose a class of decentralized adaptive sliding mode control laws. An adaptive control strategy is adopted to reject the uncertainties and disturbances. Using the Lyapunov approach and graph theory, it is shown that the control laws can guarantee a group of rigid bodies to track the desired time-varying attitude and angular velocity while maintaining attitude synchronization with other rigid bodies in the formation. Simulation examples are provided to illustrate the feasibility and advantage of the control algorithm.