Abstract The feasibility of using electrostatic forces to stabilize a close-proximity leader-follower formation is investigated. The leader craft is equipped with a set of affixed spheres whose charge is modulated to hold the charged follower craft along a proscribed trajectory to its nominal leader-relative position. This charge structure and the follower craft are constrained to remain in the plasma wake generated behind all LEO craft because the more-dense ambient plasma outside the wake prevents object charging and electric field propagation. Once the formation is achieved, a controlled electric field is generated by the leader to counter relative accelerations from perturbations like differential drag and solar radiation pressure, holding the follow near its nominal position. Two controllers are derived for the system described, incorporating Coulomb accelerations and linearized gravity and drag accelerations. Simulations are run under unmodeled perturbations and sensor noise for different scenarios, demonstrating the challenges and benefits associated with electrostatic actuation.

中文翻译：

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LEO 等离子体尾迹中静电先导-跟随形成的电荷-产物控制方法

摘要 研究了使用静电力来稳定近距离领导-跟随编队的可行性。领航器配备了一组固定球体，其电荷被调制以将带电的跟随器沿着被禁止的轨迹保持到其标称的领航者相对位置。这种电荷结构和跟随飞行器被限制在所有 LEO 飞行器后面产生的等离子体尾流中，因为尾流外部更密集的环境等离子体阻止了物体充电和电场传播。一旦形成，引导者就会产生一个受控电场，以抵消来自不同阻力和太阳辐射压力等扰动的相对加速度，使跟随者保持在其标称位置附近。为所描述的系统导出了两个控制器，结合库仑加速度和线性化重力和阻力加速度。针对不同场景在未建模的扰动和传感器噪声下运行仿真，展示了与静电驱动相关的挑战和优势。