New intermediate quaternion based control of spacecraft: Part II: global attitude tracking

We have demonstrated in Part I that if the initial attitude error is not located at the unstable equilibrium or its stable manifold, then our proposed intermediate quaternion based attitude control method is able to ensure asymptotically stable attitude tracking. We now proceed in Part II to address global attitude tracking. By blending the intermediate quaternion with a shifted one, we develop a systematic approach for synthesizing a hybrid attitude control scheme capable ofsteering any initial attitude error toward the desired stable equilibrium, delivering a final product for globally stable attitude tracking control ofspacecraft free of singularity, ambiguity and unwinding. © 2012 ICIC International.