Attitude control of magnetically actuated satellites using optimisation

The work in this thesis investigates the development of novel attitude control laws for satellites with magnetic actuators. Three different control approaches are presented, with a focus on both theoretical study and practical application. The first control approach studies the classical 'torque projection' PD control and identifies weaknesses in this approach when applied to satellites with an uneven inertia distribution. An alternative algorithm is developed based on a simple quadratic programming problem which more appropriately deals with the uneven inertia distribution. This feedback controller is supplemented with a similarly structured feed-forward compensator, with the resulting algorithm no more complex than the traditional 'torque projection' controller. [Continues.]